First off shout out to Britt and her family for having a package at the mission office when I got to WA. Loved the green-ie theme ha made me laugh!
Can't believe I have been out in my area for a week. I survived and I am just loving it! Okay so the whole day Tuesday was a rough but wonderful experience. First off I didn't get my luggage weighed in (miracle) even though I knew they were both over 50 pounds. I was the only one that didn't get checked. I was so beyond grateful!! Second, I loved being able to talk to my family. It was so good to hear their voices and take that time to talk to them. Sister Marsden and I were the last ones to get on the plane because we were both talking to our families. The guy working there stopped us and asked if we were sitting together on the plane, we both said no and he bumped us up to first class for the whole hour to Portland because those were the only seats available together! The tender mercies of the lord is a real thing. The plane ride was short but so beautiful. It's weird thinking about the next time I'll be one plane will be when I am coming home. So crazy. We flew in and saw the most amazing mountains and sunrise and CLOUDS!!! We got in and meet president Taylor and his wife and all the elders that are AP's and stuff. They were all super nice and I was excited. We got to the mission office and unloaded and had lots of lectures and crap. We had a 5 min talk with the president individually so he could see who would be training us. It was an awesome talk. We clicked so well when I brought up skiing and boating. He skies all the time up at Sun Valley so that's awesome! Then after lunch and everything they told us all that we would be going out with a companionship to go tracking and or to a lesson. I honestly was so tired and a little bit frustrated because I just wanted to go to bed. My brain was fried because of all the information they had given us and my body was exhausted from being up at 2:30am and only have an hour of sleep. I got it together and went out with another new sister missionary and this companion. Both sisters were almost done with their mission and we so cute. We laughed all the time especially when we were tracking. Yes I can track and yes I am dang good at it. Rejection is awesome and not as scary as I thought. I just feel bad because we were their ticket to God and salvation and they just missed out....oh well. Then we sat in on an incredible spirit filled lesson. The lady was a non member. She had lost her husband a couple months ago and the missionaries showed up and brought her so much comfort. She wants to be baptized but needs some time to be mentally ready. It was such a cool experience for my first day! I had to keep telling myself these are real people and they aren't MTC investigators. We are blessing and changing REAL people's lives. Holy cow
It is so much easier talking and teaching to real people then it was m the MTC. Then we went to the mission home, ate dinner, took pictures, got to know president Taylor and his wife a bit more and then it was bed time! We went to bed at 8 and kid you not it was the best night sleep I had, had since I left home. I woke up ready to get to work. We got to transfer meeting and when my name was called I knew this was it. The moment that would change my life forever. My first companion and trainer out in the field. Her name was called, she stood up and I knew her. Yep we went to Utah State together! She is from lone peak where Lizzy Snyder went to school. We worked all yearish together with Lizzy at all the traditions activities. God put two Aggies together. I could have not been more happy and grateful that day. God knows me and what I needed and that's exactly what I needed. Cute, energetic, spazy Sister Okerlund. I saw Brian and the Jensen's cute niece. Then she and I headed to our area. We are in Portland. A pretty ghetto part called Gresham. All the houses are basically trailers. Lots of crap everywhere like in yards and everywhere in their homes. It is so awesome and disgusting at the same time. It's fun to see each house and their array of junk, it really brings out the home owners personality. There are spiders everywhere in plain sight. Not big ones but a million everywhere. Their webs are huge and I guess no one cares because they are all still there. There is so much we did his week. We were so busy teaching and talking to people. We ate with a member family every night this week. It reminded me of when we had the missionaries over. I love meeting our members in our ward. I have realized it isn't hard to just be myself and talk to everyone. Thanks mom for that gene(: I really love trackting and I love being in lessons and making people laugh. Everyone has a story and they are usually stories of hardship and hurt. It breaks my heart to hear these stories, but it makes me so grateful for what I have and what I know. I usually pipe in every now and then because I don't really know who our investigators are and where they are at. So I'll bear my testimony and ask some questions. I love being busy and I love our routine. I am getting the hang of thing around here and I am starting to get names down...ha sorta. Sister Okerlund is super patient with me and she is teaching me a lot. We have a car and I have an iPad. So cool. All the APP's we have are so interactive and I love having all the tools available to us at the touch of a finger. Sister Okerlund and I are getting along really well and I love backing her up ALL the time haha. I am sure I look so stupid out here but I make it fun. We had splits this week with our sister training leaders. I was scared and kinda mad they were pealing me away from my area. I didn't want to leave and be with someone else. It ended up being a great experience and I loved learning all I could from this amazing sister. Transfer night was the best when I got to back home. I love my little apartment we have. It is slightly gross but I have put up so many Jesus pictures that it doesn't even matter. Oregon has some interesting (like old grandma mixed with gross animal smells and mold) smells and Hans little smell good thing has just brightened up the place. My first Sunday here was amazing! It was the primary program and it reminded me of ours. Miss my kiddos and their sweet spirits. The primary president bore a cool testimony on how the program was to show God how much these kids have learned about Jesus this year and that the congregation was just in for the treat. I thought that was a cool concept. Dad the missionary meetings and stuff are not organized at all here. They need someone like you here for sure! We had lots of meetings and then we went and taught our neighbors below us. They are so awesome and I love them both so much already. Titus and Betty have been our friends here for awhile and they have just seen how happy we are and they now want to learn all about it. They struggle big time with depression and suicidal attempts. We just love them and let them know we love them every time we see them so their day can be brightened. Our lesson was powerful, they already know a lot and I'm excited for them. Then last night I got to sit in a lesson with a new member who just got baptized. He is Tongan so we had someone translate from English to Tongan. So cool and the spirit was so strong. I didn't even know him but when he walked into the room I could tell he was clean and pure and full of the spirit. It was a neat experience. Well I think I have written enough to last you all a year haha.
I honestly already am obsessed with my area, the people and being a missionary. It is so awesome to tell people why I am out on a mission. I am so happy and know there is nowhere I would rather be then here serving my lord and his sheep at this point of my life right now. I love praying all day for everything because I am nothing without God and the spirit. I am so grateful for so much and I will be eternally grateful for this experience that is already changing me. Oh and it has only rained once. The days are green and beautiful and the nights are nice and cool (like Jackson or sun valley). My companion loves fans and the cold ha we have three fans and we leave the window open at night
🏻🏻🏻moire couldn't be better. Thanks for all your support!
*everyone is right the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. The whole "days feel like weeks" is a positive thing for me. It doesn't go slow we just do SO much that I cannot believe we accomplished that much in a single day.
**Okay so what is the deal with the floods and deaths going on in Utah?
***Everyone and their dog has a dog or cat here. Ha they are so many animals here, mostly small annoying ones.
****I just knock out every night because I am so tired...goodbye sleeping pills(:
Me and Sister Okerland
Me and Sister Stromness (splits companion aka sister training leader aka awesome)
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