September 13, 2010

I'm so glad that Brady's funeral went well and that you learned more about him and what a good person he was. Since I haven't been close to him the last couple of years, I just thought he was doing a lot of bad so it was nice to hear about what a great person he was and all the good he did. He really was a great cousin! I wish I would have had the opportunity to get to know him better the past few years. In fact, I wish I knew many of our family members better. Thanks for telling me about the funeral. That made me feel a lot better! I would love to have a copy of his funeral program and a picture of him if you have one. The past week has definitely made me think about my own life and how precious my time is here on the earth. As hard as it has been to have a death in the family, I have been given a much bigger perspective and the plan of salvation seems more real to me than ever before!

Random: Transfers are on next Tuesday! Can you believe it is transfer time already?! Its crazy!

Besides having a hard time with the death of Brady, I had a pretty good week. I got to go on an exchange with Sister Gibbons in Federal Way so it was a really good experience for me. We had so much fun together! It was neat to be her companion again for the day and to see how much I've grown since I've been her companion. I was so crazy the first couple of months and I wish I would have been a better companion. I can't go back in time though so I made the most of the time I had with her now! We had so much fun and were laughing :) It was neat talking with her and what she thinks I need to improve on because since she was my trainer, she can see a pattern. It was a great help because I know I have a lot of weaknesses, but I haven't known where to start. She helped me realize that I just need to love everyone and let people love me. I know that I need to continue to work on that so it was great to hear it from her. Now I know what I need to focus on the most! Sister Gibbons is doing great. She only has one more transfer left though. Crazy huh?

Yesterday we had stake conference and guess what? The Daniels family came to it! We have been teaching them for so long but this is only the 2nd time they have been to church. Joe could be baptized any day if he wanted to but Paulette is still not ready. She is starting to read the Book of Mormon though! That is a huge step for her and coming to church was a HUGE step too! We were so happy to see them come. We asked what they thought after church, and Joe enjoyed it. Paulette says she still doesn't really comfortable because it is different than what she is use to but she enjoyed some of the speakers. Its still gonna take some time but I know that as they continue to come to church that it will be more comfortable and they will come to enjoy it.

Linda and Amanda (mother/daughter...Amanda is 24) were gonna come to church yesterday but Linda's husband got put in the hospital again. He has a lot of health problems. I feel so bad for Linda and Amanda. They have had hard lives! They have already been to church 4 times and in all of our lessons, we can feel the spirit so strongly and we know they feel it to. We just continuing to help them see how the gospel can bless their life and that God really is there for them. They can see the church as a good thing but they say that they aren't ready for baptism yet. We think it may be too because they don't know very many people in the church yet so we are trying to introduce them to more people. On Thursday, our ward actually had a Relief Society meeting where a lady who use to be in the Marines taught us some self-defense moves so we took Linda and Amanda to that and they loved it! We laughed a lot. I feel like that helped them feel more comfortable and to get to know more of the ladies in the ward on a more casual level. I love Linda and Amanda! They are wonderful. I hope things get better for them soon :)