Feb. 17, 2014

Well this week felt ridiculously long.  It feels like a chore just to write about it.  But, no worries, I will push through the pain my poor fingers will have just to give you all a little peace of mind.  That I am alive and not completely frozen yet.  

    Lets see, Monday.... Well, it was pday and not too much to talk about.  But we did do some service that night at the Methodist church.  Every week they have a free dinner for people in the town and it was our church's turn to serve and help out.  It is honestly a lot of fun.  We clean, serve people, do dishes, make food, and talk to as many people as we can.  But I love helping out.  

    I also gave a training at District Meeting this week.  About Faith.  I had no idea how much faith I was lacking.  I want to do everything perfect, like speak spanish and teaching, and I feel like everything rests on my shoulders.  But I need to get over myself big time.  I need to be more humble and realize that I can not do anything without the Lord.  And as long as I am trying my best and always do what he wants, then I am doing exactly what I am supposed to do.  That is enough.  But I have a hard time trusting in the lord sometime, which is ridiculously sad....  I feel like I am always going to mess up and that my mouth won't be filled.  Even though I have witnessed it happening before.  So Faith was perfect for me to train on, because I needed the help!  Thats how you know the Lord truly knows everything and plans things out perfectly.  

    Anyway, Monday night we had exchanges again.  But this time I took over the area while Hna. Noffz went to Glenwood Springs.  Hermana Moser came here as well.  It was really good!  It gave me the chance to step up and take the lead on the work here.  Which made me realize that I truly am a good missionary and can do this work.  And this might sound terrible, but Sister Moser's spanish is not quite as good as Sister Noffz's.  So it kind of forced me to speak more and honestly, I really can speak spanish.  Together we taught the lessons and flowed really good.  Which is something Hna. Noffz and I have struggled with because I am just learning.  But this was a great learning experience, and has taught me to be such a better missionary.  Transfers are only 3 weeks away now, and everyone keeps saying that I am going to be training, which completely freaks me out!  It would be so hard but I would learn and grow so much!  I guess we will see.  I hope both Hna. Noffz and I stay one more transfer because we have some amazing people who we want to see baptized and be a part of their life.  

     This week we were finally able to get in with Daniel and Laura.  The family who has been avoiding us.  As soon as we walked in Laura ran out the door and said she had to go to Costco at that moment.  And when she came back she ignored us and just went in the back room.  We were going to come back later but ended up talking to Daniel for over an hour.  We talked about the Plan of Salvation with him and it basically goes with his beliefs exactly.  But he is stubborn and his heart is not ready to accept.  But he loves talking(arguing??) and we finally just had to invite him to pray and thats all we could do.  Then Laura came in the room and basically kicked us out.  Daniel said she had talked to her mother about the church and got yelled at and some other things happened.  Which is why she won't have anything to do with us anymore.  It is so sad because she knows the truth.  She just won't accept it.  Which we understand how hard it is with her family, but it breaks our hearts.  We care so much for them, and especially Laura, and it hurts to be treated like that from her.  After the lesson we got into the car and just cried.  

        Then last night we had a lesson with Alex.  And it was rough.  He is having such a hard time right now, but he won't open up to anyone.  But you can just see that the light has gone out of him, he doesn't have that huge smile anymore.  No one can figure it out, but we know that a lot of it probably has to do with his uncle, Juan.  Who is Myrna's husband and not a member.  Juan doesn't really like Alex and gives him a hard time.  It is so sad to watch.  Alex hasn't been praying and doesn't feel like God is helping him right now.  We don't know what to do.  We need to make sure the ward is supporting him and that he knows how much we care about him.  He is like our little brother and it is so sad to see him struggle like this.  We just went home and prayed and prayed for him.  

     Man, missionary work is hard.  And it is not fun.  It is completely worth it always of course. But not fun.  I don't like seeing people struggle and not knowing how to help them.  I can only love them and use the Spirit to guide me what to do and say.  But I am so thankful to be here and have the opportunity to know these people and be a part of their lives.  Especially the Hispanic people.  They are so special.

    Which is another problem we are encountering.  The ward here in Eagle(which is a white ward with a few hispanic members) seems to forget that we have Hispanic members.  And these amazing people are being ignored by the majority of the members.  We brought the suggestion up to have 1 hymn in spanish during sacrament and other small things like that to help the unity here, but were shut down.  We were shocked to find a lot of prejudices in our way.  It broke our hearts and made us completely furious at the same time.  People are people whether they speak english or not.  It make me realize how much I love these people and how much I love the culture.  They are completely humble and don't expect anything from life.  They love God so much and always work to be better.  I am so blessed to be called to serve with these people specifically.  

   Anyway, enough with the negative.  We have also seen so many little miracles every single day!  I can see the hand of God in every little thing we do.  It is my favorite part about being a missionary.  We used to teach an amazing woman named Atosha, but we were told that she moved to Mexico for 6 months.  Then we stopped by her house and there she was!  What?!  We were so excited to see her.  One day she is going to be baptized, hopefully while we are here.  Then Karina, the 16 year old girl who I adore, is progressing.  She told us that she kneeled down and prayed to God one day to know the truth.  But while she was getting to the part about what happened, her mom interrupted and she stopped talking!  Ahhhh, I could have died.  To the mom's credit, she had no idea what Karina was saying because she does not speak english at all.  But we will ask her tonight and see what happened.  I only pray that she has truly received an answer and knows that truth.  

   Then Yesenia is great!  She loves the members of the ward and they include her so much even though she can't come to church yet.  I guess the other day she was at Sister Mendoza's house studying the scriptures and we had no idea!  After next week she will be able to come to church and prepare for her baptism on the 22nd of March!  I hope I am here!

    This area is so hard to get Hispanics to church.  Because all of them work at the ski resorts and the busiest days are always Sunday.  It has been hard, but when they do come, it is the best feeling in the world.  

     But a lot is happening here and I am so excited for the upcoming weeks!  The amazing things that I have seen happen make everything else worth it.  I love my mission and I love the people.  I know that this work is the best thing that I could be doing in my life right now.  I am turning into the person that God wants me to be.  I know this church is true, without a doubt in my mind.  I love everyone so much back home and am so thankful for the support that I have.  Thanks for everything!  Yo quiero compartir mi testimonial en espanol!  Por que puedo ahora!  Pero yo se que la iglesia is verdadera con todo de mi corazon.  y tenemos el evangelio de Jesucristo.  Estoy muy agradacida por el conocimiento que tengo y por la felizidad.  Y yo tengo un gran testimonial sobre oracion.  Por que mi mision es dificil.  pero puedo hablar con mi Padre Celestial cada dia y cada momento.  Y yo puedo recibir la fuerza y el consuelo que necesito.  Podemos recibir ayuda de El siempre.  

(That was probably entirely wrong, because it is a lot harder to type in spanish!  So be easy on me)

Love,

   Hermana Adair

Yo

February 3, 2014

(Letter from last week)

Well I survived my first transfers!!!  I am staying here in Eagle Valley with Hna. Noffz for at least another six weeks!  Yay!  I never realized how stressful transfers were, but they are not fun haha.

But I am so happy to stay here and help the area more and more.  I would have cried to leave the people here after only six weeks. 

    This week wasn't too exciting.  A lot of hard work, a few tears, some amazingly happy moments, and a lot of growing experiences.  This week was also my first exhange.  So I was able to go to Glenwood Springs for a day and a half and be companions with Hermana Moser.  She was in the MTC with Hna. Noffz and is really great.  I learned a lot from her and she helped me realize that I truly am doing a great job here.  She also lives with the English sisters in Glenwood, so it was fun to spend the night there and talk with everyone. 

    We also tracted into a family last week that is less active.  Actually it is a really funny story.  We do this thing called prayer approach.  Where we offer to leave a blessing over their house and then afterwards talk about the spirit that they are feeling and are usually able to get a return appointment.  It works really good and I love doing it.  Anyway, we did it with this family and are talking to them and ask if we can come over one day and share our message.  They said yes.  Then we ask what religion they were, and they were like, "somos mormones"(we are mormon).  What!?  Our mouths dropped open and we were like, we're mormons!  They know the whole time who we were and we had no idea that they were lds.  haha it was hilarious and we all just laughed about it. 

    But it was a huge blessing that we met this family, los sanchez.  They have lived in Gypsum for a year and have not been to church ever since they moved.  But they want to go to the temple as a family and want us to help them get there.  They are amazing and I feel so comfortable with them, and they are all so patient with my spanish.  Everyone loves helping me learn new words haha.  But I am so excited for them and the opportunity to help them go to the temple!  It would be amazing to go through with them one day!

     Now i am back to this past week.  And what a week it was.  Alex got the priesthood 2 sundays ago, and I forgot to mention it!!!  It has been incredible to see this kid grow up and gain such a strong testimony!  He is turning into a great man.  We were able to be there when he was given the priesthood and what a cool thing it is.  The priesthood really is such an amazing power and is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us.  Now Alex is excited to serve a mission and wants to go to London or Rio haha!!  Actually, anywhere but Mexico! 

     Hna. Noffz has a pretty bad back, she used to be a gymnast so most of it is from past injuries and just a lot of stress on her body.  So we went to the chiropractor here in Eagle hoping to make things a little easier for her.  Because it is hard to walk around and work all day when your back and shoulder are on fire!  She has to ice almost every morning or evening, i feel so bad!  Anyway, seeing her there made me want to go so bad haha!  I always loved going to the chiropractor.  But it was just a little weird to see her craddled in a grown man's arms as he tried popping her back haha.

     Work wise, this week was rough.  For 2 days straight we has no lessons, no referrals, no contacts, nada.  It was not fun.  We would just resort to walking up and down streets, mostly trailer parks actually, and knocking.  Which is not fun, especially in the freezing cold.  But we both knew that we just had to keep going and keep working.  God was telling us to go just a little further and be patient.  Well we did.  Everytime we work so hard and don't see immediate blessings, we always see huge blessings a little farther down the road. 

    We were in this small trailer park in Eagle and suddenly both of us had a strong prompting to go to this yellow trailer right now.  They automatically let us in, carmen and Alonzo, and it turns out that they were both taught by missionaries before.  Not only that, but they both have a testimony of the church and want to be baptized!?  Crazy huh.  Both of them were just leaving for work, so if we were 2 minutes later we would have missed them completely.  Hopefully everything goes well with them.  But we are pretty sure that we will have to deal with a Word of Wisdom problem, and possibly a chastity problem (fingers crossed that we are wrong).  So those will be exciting to deal with. 

     Afterwards we wanted to go knock a different trailer park.  But both of us all of a sudden felt like we shouldn't knock right now.  We both said that and thought it was so weird.  Why wouldn't the Lord want us to work and try to find more people.  But being the obedient missionaries that we are, we listened to the spirit.  And thank goodness we did.  We ended up stopping at a gas station to fill up and met this man named Jaime.  And it turns out that he had been taught by missionaries before and had so many questions.  We stood out in the cold for over 30 minutes talking to him!  It was great.  The Lord just keeps throwing people who are already prepared at us, all we need to do is stand there and open our hands.  It is amazing to be a missionary and witness the miracles that happen every single day. 

    I don't know if anyone looked at the snow here in Eagle Colorado, but we have gotten so much!  About 30 inches, we literally have a mountain in front of our house.  Thursday night was so bad, and it was not fun to drive through.  We had to cancel our appointment with Yessenia because she lives in Dotsero, which is a few miles down the canyon.  And there was no way we were going to make it there alive.  It did not stop snowing for 2 days straight.  And in this little town, the roads do not get ploughed!  Well they do a little bit, but I don't think it counts when there is still almost a foot of snow on the roads at all times.  On Friday our mission president called and said we weren't allowed to go out that day.  Which was good because Sister Lister, the woman we live with, had already said that.  And I am pretty sure she would have walked through the snow all the way to Denver and gave our president a piece of her mind if he wanted us to go out.  So we planned for a few hours on Friday, shoveled a lot of snow(but I won't let Hna. Noffz shovel because of her back) and we were so bored.  As a missionary all you want to do is work!  We were going crazy!!! But it was a good time to get closer as friends.  Hna. Noffz honestly feels like a sister to me, and sometimes she reminds me a lot of Madee.  Just with a little less attitude :)  So we have a lot of fun together.  Actually I have been really lucky with both of the comps that i've had.  I just hope the pattern continues for the next 15 months!

    For anyone who knows anything about missions, they will know that it can be really hard to get people to church at times.  Especially here with the hispanics.  But this sunday we had the Sanchez family come!!  Yay!  Hopefully the realize what they're missing in their lives and want to come back!  And Carinna, a 16 year old girl we are teaching, also came! 

   I need to tell you about Carinna!  She is completely amazing!!  We have been teaching her for a few weeks and all of our lessons are great.  We actually teach her in English because she understands better, and then when her mom is there, we teach in spanish.  She has so many questions about so many things.  Her family is technically catholic but she honestly has no foundation about God or religion.  She wants to know so badly about "where we came from,"  "Why are we here,"  and "where are we going."  The questions of the soul.  How sad is it to be a young girl and not have any idea why you are here.  And to think that life is just something to get through.  But she is so sweet and soaking up everything that we tell her.  And she is fascinated by the things we tell her about Joseph Smith and the BOM.  She told us it's like magic, she wants to believe and she thinks it is incredible, but it is also hard to believe.  So we have talked about faith and how we can recieve answers from God.  And she told us she didn't think she could find enough faith to get an aswer.  She said it so sincerely and sadly that my heart broke just a tiny bit.  But being awesome as I am, I pulled our a few scriptures about faith and how as long as we just have a desire to believe, then God will see the intentions of our heart and will give us an answer.  This gave her a lot of comfort and I know she is determined to get an answer. 

    We had a lesson with her Saturday night that was the best lesson i have ever been in.  We brought a YW with us who actually knows Carinna, so it was perfect.  But Carinna has committed to baptism on the 8th of March!  And her mom said that she would support her daughter with her decision, which is a miracle in itself!!  She came to church yesterday and had the best time.  It was testimony meeting, which can always be scary for missionaries who bring investigators, but besides a few words about the Broncos, it was perfect!  Literally!  Every testimony had something that was perfect for Carinna, and she was so focused the entire time!  And the spirit was so strong, it was the best testimony meeting I have ever been to!  The closing hymn was "I know that my redeemer lives" and Carinna could not stop looking at the words and soaking it in.  The song touched her so much and after sacrament she said"wow, this church is really like a family isn't it"  Yes!  The Young Women completely took her under their arms and already have her excited to go to young womens!  She really is going to be baptized.  And because of this gospel her life is going to be so much better!  I already love her so much and she is the cutest thing!  I can't wait for her life and the things she is going to do.

    So while this week was a lot of work, and I am pretty sure that I will only have stumps for feet when I get home, I wouldn't trade it for anything else.  We have had so many miracles happen for us and God has blessed us so much.  It is such a huge priviledge to be here and to be a part of the lives of some incredible people.  Yes a mission is hard, harder then I ever thought it would be.  But it is so worth it.  I have honestly never been happier. 

   Sorry this letter is HUGE!!!  I guess it just makes up for no letter last week!  But I have a huge testimony of this gospel and of the happiness that it brings into the lives of others.  I have seen people change completely and have witnessed more miracles then I can count.  I love you all and appreciate beyond words the prayers that are being said for me and all of the missionaries in the world.  Thanks for everything. 

Love, Hermana Adair

   

January 20, 2014

   Well, this week I don't have quite as exciting stories as usual.  Which I guess isn't a bad thing right.  This week was honestly a little slow.  Not too many lessons, mainly because we had Sisters Conference on Tuesday and Zone Meeting on Thursday.  And since we have to travel almost 2 hours to get there and the meeting always last until later in the day, it takes up most of our time.  But Sisters Conf. was great!  I love all of the sisters in this mission and I learned a lot about things that I need some help with.  And Zone Meeting was just as good.  

    On Tuesday we had a lesson with one of our investigators, Yessenia.  She is completely amazing and has such a special spirit about her.  She is also very patient with my spanish and I truly feel kindness from her.  She is so ready for baptism and I am excited for her.  We asked her to be baptized on Tuesday, I asked the question in Spanish, and she said she would love to!  She just wants to learn more.  So hopefully we can help her prepare and be ready for baptism soon.  She is also having a lot of problems with her thyroid.  She has a big lump on her throat and needs to get it checked out more.  It made me automatically think of Megan.  I just hope that she is okay and things will go good for her.

   We are also teaching a young family who I really love.  Daniel and Laura.  They are great and truly want to know the truth.  So far, I haven't seen a heart so sincere and wanting the truth.  It is great and each lesson goes way over time because they always have so many questions.  Especially Daniel.  He isn't searching for the truth as much as Laura, but he is very supportive and likes to learn.  Both Hna. Noffz and I know that they will get baptized one day.  I just hope that I am here to see it!

     We had some other lessons but this week we also did a lot of tracting.  On Saturday we spent three hours OYMing(Open Your Mouth, which is just talking to people on the streets) and knocking on doors.  Lets just say that is not my favorite thing to do yet haha.  But hopefully with time, I will be super enthusiastic about it.  But right now, for some weird reason, I am terrified to talk to people in spanish!  Yeah, it is pretty pathetic.  My poor comp.

     So far, my whole mission, I have dealt with the stress pretty well.  And believe me, it is stressful.  It is a lot harder then I ever thought it would be.  And I guess I just couldn't take it any more.  So I finally had a little breakdown and had to talk things through and get a hold of myself again.  Thank goodness for Hermana Noffz.  She has helped me so much and especially now.  I just feel bad that she has to deal with me and do a lot of the work lately because I don't speak spanish.  But after talking, making goals, and a lot of other really great things, I am still doing great.  I still have to work on a few things and find a little more faith, but I am learning so much and will only be stronger because of everything.   

     But everything I have learned in these 11 weeks have made my testimony grow so much more!  And it is amazing to witness in the lives of others the happiness that the gospel brings.  I truly love being here and wouldn't be anywhere else.  I love the people and I even love the struggle through spanish.  

     I have such a strong testimony of this gospel and know that this is the Lord's work.  And I am so priviledged and humbled to be here and having the opportunity to represent my Savior.  

I love you all!  THanks for the support and love!

Love, Hermana Adair

Here are some pictures of Alex, and his baptism!

January 13, 2014

Well, another week has come and gone.  I only have a little over 15 months left, what!! crazy!  Even though that still seems like forever away.  But this was a pretty great week!  And like always, we had some more adventures.  It seems like everything that could happen, always does happen with Hna. Noffz and I.  But they always make for some good stories :)

   Monday night we did some service in our ward at the Methodist church.  Every 1st week of the month the Methodist church has a "simple supper" where they make a meal that is free for anyone.  And they try and get as much food as they can to hand out.  And this month our ward volunteered to run it.  It was actually so much fun!  There hasn't been too many service opportunities here and it felt great just to work and help out.  Plus, we got to talk to a lot of people and show them what we do and just represent our church.  And this whole ward feels exactly like our ward at home.  I feel like i have known these people for years, so it is fun to do things with them and feel at home.  I just want you to meet everyone here! 

   But, this ward is also super unorganized.  We had a meeting on Sunday that lasted hours.  And it was only us going over the ward list.  Only 20-30% of the members in this ward are active.  And more then half of the people on the list nobody has any idea who they are.  It is so bad that there was a man on the list who had been dead for over 10 years.  Yeah...it's that bad.  I wasn't joking.  So this week we have been trying to visit as many less-actives as we can and help this ward figure things out.  So far, over 6 of the people we have tried to contact have been moved for years.  This work is a little frustrating to do, especially since it is the wards fault for letting it get so bad.  But, this is part of our calling and we are glad that we can contribute to the ward and the people here.  And we are changing things.  Because of us, things are getting fixed and progress is being made, so it does feel good. 

   We have a few new investigators who we are super excited about.  Yessenia is on of them.  She is the sweetest lady who lives about 15 minutes in a trailer park called Dotsero.  (which is super sketchy and full of really scary people.  Meth addics and alcoholics especailly.  And doesn't really have cell service good.  So we are not aloud to really go there after dark unless we have an appointment.)   But Yessenia is amazing and truly ready to know the gospel.  We taught her a few times and she really seems to accept our message.  We are going to invite her to be baptized tomorrow.  And I will be saying it, yikes!  I hope I don't mess it up in spanish haha.

   But my spanish has been progressing a lot lately.  We had a lesson with Yessenia and I did so good! (not to brag or anything)  But the spanish came and I ended up actually contributing and teaching the lesson.  Hna. Noffz said that she was completely blown away by how awesome I did.  And Brother Wait, (the spanish ward mission leader) has said that I have come a long way.  He even asked me to translate at our last baptism!  Which freaked me out, but it was a huge compliment coming from him.  He wouldn't have asked if he didn't think I could do it.  But I never did it because I ward doesn't have enough headphones.  Which is changing this week.

   There is a couple named Daniel and Laura.  They are great and I love talking to them and feel so comfortable with them.  They are really open to the church and Laura truly wants to know the truth.  But Daniel is a little bit tougher.  He has so many questions and wants an answer to everything now.  Which is great, but so hard to teach that kind of person.  We had a lesson with them last night that lasted 2 hours!  I just pray so hard that they accept the truth that they will feel.  Because they are so amazing and I know that this gospel will bless their lives forever. 

    I also recited the first vision in spanish for the first time this week.  Everytime I hear it or say it myself I feel the spirit so strong.  I never realized before my mission how much Joseph Smith and his sacrifice meant to me.  And I know without a doubt that he was a prophet of God and that he truly saw the Father and the Son. 

   This Friday we had Zone Conference up in Rifle.  The drive there was terrifying.  The weather was horrible and we had to drive through Glenwood Canyon again.  That canyon is the scariest few miles I have ever been in my life.  We could only go 20mph or less it was so bad. Plus a semi almost ran us over!  I thought I was going to die from a heart attack. So it took us forever to get to ZC.  ZC was great!  I learned a lot and it was fun to see all of the missionaries in the area.  I saw Hna. McRae again!  Which was great!  But she and her comp ran into some nasty bed bugs and termites at the apartment.  So they are completely covered in rashes, bumps, scabs, and who knows what else.  Their apartment is being fumagated with everything in it and they have been living in a hotel for days with only 1 change of clothes.  I felt so bad for them but couldn't help laughing because they have to wear latex all over their bodies for the treatment they are doing.  It was fun to see her again and exchange some of our stories. 

   And it was great to talk with President and Sister Murdock.  They are great and talked to Hna. Noffz and I for a bit.  He told us he put us in Eagle for a specific reason and that we are the two who are supposed to be here.  And that we are doing such a great job with getting the work started again.  It felt really good to hear this.  Because we are working so hard to get thing moving again. 

    Saturday was Alex's baptism!!!!!!  I love this kid to death and am going to force Madee to marry him in a few years!  Plus, he has the cutest smile ever haha.  But he was baptized and it was such an amazing night.  He is Myrnas(who is already a member) nephew and the grandson of Cecilia(who was baptized the week before)  He wants a better life for himself then the rest of his family in Mexico and knows that this church is the right path for him.  Brother Wiemer(a member in the ward who we love! and his family!) baptized him and even said it in spanish.  During the prayer they both got really emotional and it touched everyones heart in the room.  And when Alex came up out of the water he had the biggest smile on his face.  It was so incredible to see and be a part of it.  And his confirmation blessing on Sunday was amazing as well.  The spirit was so strong and it talked a lot about his future and the person he is going to be.  I am so excited for him.  He is excited to get the priesthood next week and is now planning of serving a mission!

    Alex was supposed to be returning to Mexico this week right after his baptism with Cecilia and his sister.  Hna. Noffz and I were so worried about him because in Mexico he won't have the support he needs and it would be so easy for him to find some bad friends and get into some really scary things down there.  We have been praying for them so hard.  And guess what!  Alex is now staying!  He is going to get some help in school and will be staying with Myrna now permanantly.  It truly is a miracle and we are so happy for him.  He has so much potential and now his life will be so much better!  But his little sister Adrianna is still going to Mexico and we are worried about her as well.  She is 7 years old and completely adorable.  She loves us so much and can't wait to be baptized when she is 8.  But she is leaving and probably won't be treated great by her mom(who shouldn't even be called a mother) and she will have a lot of opportunities to get into trouble in a few years.  Hma. Noffz and I have a plan to ship her back here once we are off our missions.  I will definitly keep in contact with her and give her support and love.  She needs it so bad.  So, mom and dad, please adopt Adrianna for me haha.  But i'm still totally serious.  She is amazing!

    Funny story for the week.  Yesterday we hit a stopsign.  Correction, Hermana Noffz hit a stopsign.  We were going slow and where turning down a street when the car suddenly had a mind of its own haha.  She tried turning and braking but nope. nothing happened.  So we ran into the stopsign.  And it was hilarious because once Hna. Noffz knew she couldn't do anything, she raised her hands and said, "Jesus take the wheel."  Which is what we joked about after our accident in the canyon.  (We were debating how far our faith could get us over our own effort to control the car.)  Of course we didn't hit hard, just a little bump on Felipe(our car)  But after that our car was stuck in about 2 ft of snow.  And Im out front pushing when the other English sisters see us and come help push.  Then a guy came out from his house to help.  He said he was watching the football game and saw us hit the sign.  Then he wondered why 4 girls in skirts were trying to push the car in such deep snow.  We could not stop laughing when he said that.  But thankfully, he was able to get us out.  What a good samaratan.  To come out into the cold and help complete strangers when the Broncos were playing,  I don't think a lot of people would appreciate the sacrafice he was making haha. 

     I am so excited for this upcoming week and love being here!  I am so excited to speak fluent spanish!  But I know this work is the most important thing that I could be doing and I feel so honored to be here serving the Lord and representing my Savior.  I know that this gospel is the true gospel of Jesus Christ and that through it we can have eternal happiness.  More happiness then we can ever comprehend.  I love everyone here so much and love everyone back home so much!  Thanks for everything you do for me!

Love, Hermana Adair

Sorry, we have been a little behind, but these are pictures from Christmas!


hahahah these are the pics from christmas eve!  McRazy looks like an evil elf on the shelf.  Best night ever, with the ugliest pictures ever hahaha-Hermana Adair

This is in the Eagle, with my companion!

January 6, 2014

This week was completely insane.  So many crazy things happened and we were blessed with so many miracles as well!  I will probably never forget this week.

    Monday was a normal day of teaching, not p-day.  Our president switched our pday to wednesday because it is the new year and most people will either be drunk or extremely hung over.  Especially in Eagle haha.  We have to deal with a lot of drunk people and usually just try and avoid them.  But good thing I know how to deal with them just in case haha! 

   Anyway, I also received a blessing on Monday night from Brother Wait.  He is the spanish ward mission leader and both Hermana Noffz and I love him!  He helps us so much and just reminds us of our dads.  Lately I have been getting very discouraged.  Spanish is hard.  And I just want to know it now.  And then since I am so confused with spanish I can barely speak english half the time and when I teach I feel like the gospel starts to fall between the cracks.  It makes me want to cry every time.  But Hna. Noffz said that was completely normal and everyone who learns a new language this fast has to go through this.  Thank goodness I have her because she helps me out a ton!  But we have so much work to do here and I wanted to be completely focused on the Lord's work, not worrying about my spanish!  So I asked for a blessing and it was so good.  The Lord knows how hard it is and he promised that I will learn spanish quickly and be able to teach fluently and understand those around me.  It really gave me comfort and helped me to refocus. 

       And afterwards Brother Wait and Brother Osterle(another guy in our ward) talked to us about the work we are doing in Eagle.  They said how amazing we are doing for what a horrible mess we had to clean up.  (Everyone jokes that this is just preparing me for the future on my mission.  That I will probably have to clean up a big mess and open an area.  Dang)  And how none of the members trusted the missionaries anymore before us but now they love us so much!  The ward is getting excited about missionary work and I love seeing it happen.  Also, the white members are a lot more aware of the hispanic members.  They have now just realized how hard it is to go to church where you don't speak the language well and how much dedication it takes.  Some members are now coming to the spanish gospel doctrines class to try and learn more spanish to talk to the hispanics more!  I love it!  If I have not said it before, I love this ward!  I feel completely at home here and it is like our ward back in Cedar!  We are taken care of completely and like everyones daughters, whether their white or hispanic.

   En tonces, back to this crazy week.  We had district meeting, which is in Glenwood and we have to drive through a huge canyon to get there.  Well, on Tuesday the weather was pretty bad and it was snowing a bit.  We were just driving through the canyon, going around 50(the roads were not icy at first or we would have gone slower)  when all of a sudden we lost control of the car.  We fishtailed so many times and were heading for the barrier that was blocking a cliff with a river below!! Yeah, scary!  I knew without a doubt that we were going to hit that barrier, there was no way we could miss it, it was directly in front of us.  So I sat in the seat and prepared myself mentally and physically, when all of a sudden we were spinning in a complete circle and missed the barrier entirely!  We did 2 full circles and when the car finally stopped we were directly in the middle of the road and facing the way we were driving beforehand.  I know that the Lord had angels protect us, because I know that we were going to hit that side and at the speed we were going who knows how bad it could of been.  And spinning in a car was the weirdest feeling ever.  I had always imagined screaming and the flailing of arms and bodies, but no.  You just sit there with no movement, feeling the same.  It just looks like a screen in front of you is moving.  Weird.  But I know tha Hna. Noffz was guided by the spirit as well.  She did not brake thank goodness and she turned the wheel the right way every time.  She was shaking so bad and I have no idea how she was even able to drive the rest of the way to Glenwood.  Afterwards I gave her a hug and she was still shaking!  Poor girl.

   At District meeting Hermana Noffz and I gave a training on committing people to baptism and how to prepare them.  I think it went really good.  And that night we were at Myrna's house (cecilia's daughter)  and we had to use the bathroom so bad but they were out of toilet paper!  She said, "I knew there was something we forgot at the store today" and then they just all laughed.  So later that night we went to the store and bought them a pack of toilet paper and decorated it with clearnace christmas tinsel and bows.  It was a little chaotic.  Then we left it at their porch, rang the doorbell, and booked it out of there.  I can't believe that we didn't die on the ice.  But they laughed about it for days and loved it!  Especially Juan, the dad! (who we are working on really hard right now.  He knows everything is true but just doesn't want to stop drinking yet, mainly because his brother influences him.)

     The next day, Wednesday, got even crazier.  It was pday and then we had finished teaching for the evening when we walked into our house, (and remember, we are in a GIANT house all by ourselves for 2 weeks because Sister Lister was in Holland for the holidays) as soon as I stepped through the door I had the strangest feeling.  I don't know how to explain it but things just didn't feel right.  And Hna. Noffz saw the change on my face as soon as we walked in.  But I still didn't know what was wrong, until I saw some things messed up and the back door opened half way.  Since we are alone we make sure that all doors are locked, and besides, we never use that door.  Both the screen dor and the real door were unlocked and jimmied open.  We thought about checking around downstairs, but to be safe we went over to a members house to have him come over with us.  We are 2 pretty small girls, we wouldn't be able to do anything if there was anyone in the house.  And then they called the feds.  Man, I couldn't believe what was happening!  It was all so random and surreal.  So I guess someone broke into our house and who knows what they did.  But the cops told us not to spend the night there.  This is a small town and everyone knows we are missionaries and most people know we are living alone, so they wanted us to leave for the night and they would patrol the neighborhood.  Hermana Noffz was pretty scared.  It is scary to have a home and all of a sudden not be safe there.  That feeling was really new for her and she did not like it one bit.  I was okay, I am used to calming down in pressure situations and taking charge.  But it was a great time to support and help each other out.  So we stayed at teh Fowles house that night.  They are a retired couple and completely hilarious, especially Bro. Fowles!  And in the morning they made us this huge homemade gourmet breakfast that was amazing!  I don't think I have ever had a breakfast that big, but it was so worth it!! 

   The work in this area is still pretty hard.  And it is hard not to completely see the fruits of your labors.  But we truly are when we are thinking about it.  We have some new investigators this week, (FINALLY!) who we are really excited for!  And my teaching has been better.  I never expected a mission to be this hard mentally or emotionally.  I just feel so innadaquete most of the time because Hna. Noffz does most of the teaching becasue of the spanish.  But I understand almost everyword that is spoken to me, which I am told is amazing.  And I am progressing really fast, even though not fast enough for me! haha.  But the work and hard times is so worth it!  And I was able to see that on Saturday when Cecilia was baptized!!!

    The baptism was amazing, and the spirit was very strong.  Of course, it was a little chaotic, as I am told that most baptisms are. But Cecilia was so excited and began to get a little nervous.  She knows how important this was and could not wait.  I loved watching her be baptized.  Her face glowed and she was so happy.  But my favorite part was watching her daughter Myrna.  Myrna has tried to get her baptized before, beccasue she wants her family to be together forever.  And Myrna's face during the baptism was completely amazing.  She just couldn't stop crying and smiling.  It made me feel so good and so humbled that I could be a part of their lives and a part of this special moment.  And, as missionaries, we stood right by the stairs of teh font to hand her the towel.  So we got the best view in the house and we were also the first ones to hug her!!  Cecilia has such a special spirit and I am so lucky to know her. 

    The next day at church she was confirmed a member of the church.  And in her blessing it spoke a lot about teaching the gospel to the rest of her family in mexico.  Which is exactly what she wants to do.  And also it was testimony meeting and I went up and bore my testimony in spanish!!  All of the hispanic members were so proud and kept giving me thumbs up signs with huge smiles from the seats haha.  It was hard not to laugh!  And even all of the white members who know I am just barely learning spanish came up and said how proud and happy they were.  That is how great this ward is!  But I loved it, and I do feel so lucky to be able to learn spanish!

     Lets see, the poodles also got out of the yard, who in the world knows how.  And since these dogs are Sis. Listers babies, and she would probably murder us and bury us under the floors of her grooming room until the second coming, we had to go on a search throughout the neighborhood for them.  Luckily we found them.  Or they found us I should say.  We were calling their names and all of a sudden we see them bolting down the street.  It was exactly like the scene from Homeward Bound.  No joke.

    And the stupid parrot, Lorri, fell off her tree this week.  I witnessed the whole thing.  There was a giant sqwak and a mess of feathers falling to the earth.  Pretty funny to watch.  And it has been snowing so much here.  We got about a foot the other day and had to shovel it all.  And when we were done there was almost half an inch already on the ground.  It was so cold and even right now it was only 5 degrees.  I don't know how I am still alive yet. 

    LIke I said, this week was kind of crazy and I probably won't forget it.  I told Hna. Noffz it was all becaue she was companions with me.  I always have crazy things like this happen to me haha.  But my testimony has also grown so much.  I know that God has a plan for us, and his plans are always perfect.  He is always there beside us during everything we do and everything that happens to us.  He never leaves us alone.  And we can always speak to him through prayer and feel his love.  I love knowing this.  I can turn to my father in heaven during any time and I know he hears my words.  These past 3 weeks I have prayed harder then I ever have before, and my relationship with my heavenly father is so much stronger.  But I know this church is true, without a doubt in my mind.  I wouldn't be here freezing to death, living with giant poodles, and struggling to learn a language if didn't know it was true. 

   I love all of you so much!  And am so thankful for the support and love that I feel in return.  Sorry this letter was so long!  I can never stop typing!  And I will probably say that every week haha.

Love,

   Hermana Adair