Nov. 18, 2013

Subject: First Week in Arizona... it's been a bit rough

Hey!

so I get off the plane and it is 95 degrees. WHAT? haha so strange... it cooled down since and is only in the 80s most days.. pretty nice actually!

New INFO:  I am in the town of Queen Creek, AZ!  It is about 20ish minutes away from Gilbert! dont know what direction.... i get so turned around here without mountains to my side..... haha.  i'm in the Ranch Ward in Queen Creek... not sure what stake... sorry.  and i have two comps this transfer.  Sister Collins is from Naperville, IL - been in AZ for a year now and is really nice - she and i get along pretty well and she is a great trainer to me. she makes me better each day!  Sister Wallace is from Austin, TX, and has been out about 4 or 5 weeks.. she is also a visa waiter going to Rio Dijanero, BRASIL (Yeah i know i spelled that wrong, but you get the idea haha).  She is about 5 foot nothin - really tiny haha. and is a little harder to get a long with only in the since that she is a bit of a worry-wart. she keeps us on task which is good, but i also feel like she could relax a bit - i'm worried she is giving herself an ulcer.  She is a great missionary though and is very helpful becasue she knows the queen creek area better than sis collins and i.  this is a new area for sis collins. so the hard part about last week and and i'm sure this week too will be getting familar with the area and the people and our area book needs some serious help.  organization is key with the area book when we have no clue about the town or people.  We currently have NO investigators :( BUT we have many potentials we are going to visit this week as well as a TON of less active and part member families we want to work with.

the main focus of our mission right now is the GILBERT TEMPLE.  we basically are going to each member family's home, showing them this video (mormon message: why mormons build temples (and) blessings from the temple) and then we testify of the temple to them, then ask for their testimonies, then ask them if they know of any one in the area who would benefit from seeing this (obviously non-members)  we then set a followup with them.  basically we are trying to find investigators through the gilbert temple.  the open house is from january 18 thru feb 15th  or something. so we are inviting AS MANY AS POSSIBLE to it! fun huh!?  I enjoy it, but it is all still really new.

let's see.....

well tuesday after i met with President Nattress (YES he and his wife are JUST as nice as they seem!) i... well.... lost it.  i got really overwhelmed because i flew with 14 other people and about 12 of them weren't visa waiters and were all part of the same district at the MTC and were best buddies. so even all day tuesday i felt like a loner and just wanted so badly to be in NZ! so i lost it and cried in the bathroom of the stake center for probably an hour.. (sorry thats pretty depressing haha)  tuesday night we stayed with a member family near by (they split us all up with many families).  i stayed with the Bently family and they were awesome!  Cute kids, and the oldest was 12. she left me and my temp. comp sweet letters in the morning when we got up.  those letters meant a lot to me. she said i was her hero! WHAT? so cool!

then wednesday i got my two new comps and we jumped right into visiting the members and sharing the temple video.

Then Thrusday during comp study i broke down agian... see a pattern? haha. so with comp study we do a lot of reciting such as D&C 4, our missionary purpose and two other pages from PMG (Preach My Gospel handbook).. THAT was all new to me and the other two just left me in the dust and on top of that i had felt like a burden to them so... i lost it. yay..... but after i got my feelings out i felt much better, and our relationships grew. and good news... i haven't cried since! woop!

So yeah.. this transition has been tough for me to say the least.  i now know what to expect, but also miss sister pe'a a ton!  i'm trying to be diligent and obediant here. tyring to find out why i'm supposed to be here, but it's been REALLY hard.  Each day does get better tho!

The members are really nice, and its definitely a more wealthy area for the most part. HUGE houses that we've been visiting.  There is also an area in our ward boundaries referred to as the "proving grounds"  i'll try to send a video.. but we LITERALLY  "offroad" to these members homes! so crazy!

my favorite moment with teaching people so far was on saturday when we met with a less active family - the Navarros.  they rarely come to church. and both are converts when they were in their 20s.  after bro navarro was baptized they got sealed with their kids in the temple. i found that THAT is why they've stopped coming to church... they didn't fully understand the temple.  So with knowing that,  i hope to help them come back to church.  i felt a connection with them, and hope to find success.  bro N was kind, and welcoming, sis N was very distant and sometimes short with us.  PRAY FOR THEM! :)

Bishop hatch is great and i love his family!  ALL are so fun!  He is a great bishop that will be very helpful with our missionary efforts.

ummm... yeah so we live kinda on a mini farm! cool, huh dad!?  we live in an annex to a member's home! its a cute little cottage! we have a study room, a room with our beds, a kitchen, a front/living room, and a laundry room! AWESOME! it really is nice - just the three of us!  I wake up to goats every morning "BAAAAAHH" - ing! :) sometimes funny, sometimes makes me grumpy ha! we also have chickens and roosters and turkeys and cows across the way a bit.  i like it!  and i'm so grateful we have a car and dont have to bike! :)

well today we got our eyebrows waxed... then went shopping and now i'm here emailing.  well i'm so happy to hear you all are well! sounds like topeka is treating you all well!

oh, and with lang study i get ONE hour a day... never enough. i try to say my prayers and do as much as i can... but i'll be honest... i feel like i'm losing bits of it. the cool thing is that some of the members ask for me to pray in samoan so they can hear it and im thankful for that.

oh, and i saw the hiltons wednesday! that was aweomse! then i saw their son... not sure which one... forgot. but he recognized me in the hall on sunday! very kind! i think he is in my stake!

I only have ten min left so here go my questions.... :)

how is family scripture study going?? where you all at?

mom, have you been able to read that list of scriptures i sent ya a little bit ago?

do you all like the ward?

what are yall's plans for Turkey day??

will you please pray i get my visa soon, yet in the lords time!? (being patient, but i DO want to get to NZ one day!)   and i wont find out when i go to NZ except the week before the next transfer.. so we will see. this transfer is only 5 weeks 'cuz of christmas, and the next one is 7 weeks....

logan! Mitch! Isaac! HI! miss you, love you! hope you're all happy!

man i love you all!

talk to you all again next monday!

Alofa taimi uma,

Sista Camilletti