Episode 77: The One where I'm Coming Home!

Hello everyone!

This week was just about the best way I could end my mission. First of all, an investigator that I worked with back in Soundview got baptized! Her name is Laura, and she is honestly one of the most solidly converted people I know. She had some things she had to work through before she got baptized, but she was so patient and faithful the whole time. Basically she's just amazing!

I also got to go to the temple, and that is always a good thing!

And after the temple, the Blatters took us to Cafe Rio, which is out of our mission, so I haven't had it in 18 months. It was great!

I can't think of anything else to say. I'm so happy I got to serve my mission, and I'm so happy I get to come home and continue on the path that I started on my mission.

See you in 2 days!

Love,

Sister Lemon

Episode 76: The One where It's All a Blur

Hello everyone! This week flew by, and to be honest, I don't remember what happened very well. But, I remember that it was good!

The good news is that we found 3 new investigators, and they all came to church! 

I also found an excellent quote this week. 

"Yes, men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. " —Ezra Taft Benson

And now, pictures!

Sister Zapata found these giant moose slippers on someone's porch, so I made her try them on. Don't worry, we didn't take them!

Only in Washington would you see this in someone's front yard: A huge mossy tree and a woodpecker!

And of course, selfies in the rain!

That's all for this week. Stay tuned for the season ender next Monday!

Love,

Sister Lemon

Episode 75: The One with Linda S. Reeves!

Hello everyone!

This week, I got to meet a celebrity! Well, a church celebrity. Linda S. Reeves, the second councilor in the Relief Society general presidency, came and did a conference for all the women in the area. It was awesome! The title of the conference was "The Courage to Have Compassion". Sister Reeves showed this video:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-12-01-that-we-might-be-one-the-story-of-the-dutch-potato-project?category=pioneers-in-every-land&lang=eng

I highly recommend taking the 10 minutes out of your day to watch it.

Sister Reeves also talked about the importance of valuing ourselves and others for our differences, rather than competing to be like or better than other people. I really appreciated that, because, as I am sure you know, I don't like to be anything other than myself!

And now, pictures!

It hailed!

The cats all started following me around. There were like 5 of them, not all pictured.

I had to do a quick physics problem while we were knocking in the freezing cold. Sister Zapata thought that was funny, so she took a picture.

That's all for this week!

Love,

Sister Lemon

Episode 73: The One with Stress and Joy

Hello everyone!

Life is a rollercoaster, but it is a good one!

I got asked to put together a musical number for Zone conference this week. I basically had a week to do it, and It was super stressful, but I think it's coming together, so that's a miracle!

Jennifer is still awesome! She came to church again, and this time she brought her Daughter, Aivree. Aivree is so cute! 

It has been pretty hard to find new investigators lately, but it makes it even more exciting when we do find someone to teach.

Long story short, work is hard but it makes me really happy!

Short email this week, but I love you all!

Love,

Sister Lemon

Episode 72: The One with Ups, Downs, and Miracles!

Hello everyone! 

This is how much we love snow in Tacoma!

This week felt like it was a month long, but it also flew by, which is a weird paradox to wrap my mind around. Anyway, we were working really hard to try to find some new investigators to teach. We found a few people, but then they all ended up being pretty flaky, and I was starting to get discouraged. However, in the words of President Hinckley, "We have every reason to be optimistic in this world. Tragedy is around, yes. Problems everywhere, yes. But … you can't, you don't, build out of pessimism or cynicism. You look with optimism, work with faith, and things happen." So, I was trying to have a positive attitude, and it really payed off! We had a lady named Jennifer show up to church all on her own. She just looked us up on line and came to church. Talk about the opposite of flaky! I asked her why she was interested in our church, and she said she had a rough childhood, but some of her friends who were members of our church were really supportive of her and got her through her challenges. So now, as an adult, she felt like it was time to become the kind of example those friends had been to her. She is just the nicest lady, and I am so excited to work with her more.

Also, this week we were put in contact with a Cambodian member who just got transferred here in the military. His name is Phirun, and he is basically an answer to a lot of prayers, because we are really trying to build up the Cambodian congregation, but we don't have any actively participating men, so it has been a little difficult. But Phirun is super involved, and he created an Asian branch in California when he served his mission there, so he has a lot of good experience to draw from. 

Other than that, here are some pictures.

This is Sister Minnich and Sister Choo. They share our apartment now. Their bathroom flooded, so we had to bail it out. 

It also flooded outside because a really heavy rain came and melted all the snow, and the combination was more than Puyallup could handle.

And of course, a goofy selfie.

That's all for this week! 

Love,

Sister Lemon

Episode 71: It's the Final Transfer!

Hello everyone! I have not a lot of time to email today. It snowed 6 inches yesterday, and all the libraries were closed, so we are squeezing it in today! Long story short, you basically just get a lot of pictures.

​It was freezing cold, so we wore goofy, fluffy hats that we found in our apartment.

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​I was really excited about all the snow.

​Snow selfie! You can't see the snow, but it's there!

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You can definitely see the snow in this one.

Well, that's all for now.

Love, 

Sister Lemon

Episode 70: The One where God Works in Mysterious Ways... and I Love It!

Hello everyone! This week was amazing and unexpected.

So, Sister Zapata and I have been praying for miracles and straightening our faith that this is God's work, and that He will put us where He needs us, when He needs us. It takes a lot of patience, but it works! Here's the story.

We were driving down the road on Tuesday afternoon. The road we were on does not have a sidewalk, and it's usually pretty busy with cars, but for some reason there was no one else on the road for as far as the eye could see in any direction. I noticed a girl walking along the shoulder (which never happens on this particular road), and felt a distinct impression to stop the car and talk with her. So we pulled over and Invited her to church and got her phone number. It seemed pretty insignificant at the time, but the next morning I felt like we needed to text her and set up a time to meet with her sooner than Sunday. To make a long story a little shorter, we have met with Tiffany 3 times since then, and she is amazing! She had been praying for a few weeks that someone would be put in her path to help her make a change in her life, and just when she felt at her lowest, she went out walking and met us. She said she almost flaked out on the first lesson we set up with her, but something told her that her life would be better if she came, and that we were put in her path for a reason, not just by coincidence. Tiffany has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying daily, and she told us that she can feel an increase in the presence of the Holy Ghost in her life from doing those things. I have never felt the Spirit working through me as strongly as when we teach Tiffany, and it is absolutely amazing to be able to be a tool in God's hands to bring one of His children back to Him. I feel like I've known Tiffany forever, and I'm sure it's because God has known her forever, and I get to feel a sliver of His love for her. 

We also had a world wide missionary broadcast this week, and there were changes made to our schedule and how we report back on what we are doing. It's going to take some adjusting, but change always brings growth, so that's exciting! The broadcast also involved several talks and some panel discussion that I really enjoyed. My biggest take away is that the purpose of life is to change and grow through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the purpose of missionaries is to facilitate that change and growth for those who are searching for it. What a great calling!

And now, some pictures.

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It was raining really hard, so we took a selfie.

I made some new friends in the Valentines Day section of Wal-Mart. There were so many stuffed animals, I could hardly handle it!

We had Wendy's for lunch on Saturday, and we were on the cup!

I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Love,

Sister Lemon