Fall Is Here!

Hola!

This week was good but we really didn't have any exciting adventures...but we did have to use heat in our house because it is starting to get chilly! I am loving the weather right now because it is not too hot and not too cold. I love the Fall weather and it will be exciting to have ice storms during the Winter. The weather out here is undecided – one day it is 95 degrees and the next day it is 50 degrees; therefore, we never know what to wear. We have been wearing cardigans so we can take them off when it gets too hot. It is just like Utah!

Our miracle this week happened when we were with Christina (investigator on date for the 27th). We were at her house teaching her about media and the influences that the media has on us. We read with her from “For the Strength of Youth.” In the middle of our lesson, her daughter named Aunteria came in really stressed out. The money from her pie fundraiser at school had been stolen. Christina told her to go to all the places that she had been and try to find it. As soon as she left, we prayed with Christina that Aunteria would be able to find the money. The next time Aunteria came back, she had all the money except for $20. Later that night, they found the other $20. We helped explain to Christina that our prayer was answered and the power that prayer has in our lives. Prayer really works!

Since then – Christina dropped us off the face of the planet. She won't answer her door, return texts, phone calls, or anything. So, we'll keep trying! Hopefully, I will have better news next week for y’all!

We had our first Institute class this week and it was awesome! The new senior couple from Garden City, KS came out here to Lamar. We had quite a few people show up so it was awesome.

My theme for this week was “Desire” – Elder Neal A. Maxwell said:
“When people are described as ‘having lost their desire for sin,’ it is they, and they only, who deliberately decided to lose those wrong desires by being willing to ‘give away all their sins’ in order to know God. Therefore, what we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity.”

Love y'all!
Misionera Amor!

The Hope of God’s Light

Hola!

We have about 11 investigators right now and they are all awesome! Two of them are Spanish speaking only and the majority of them are Mexican – how ironic!

So, last week when we were getting ready for bed, Sister Moser yelled, "Sister Adams – I need your help!" I went into our room and she had one of those floss things stuck behind her retainer and it was bleeding all over. I could not stop laughing – but I finally controlled myself – and had to cut off the floss thing for her. Somehow the floss thing broke her retainer. What was lucky is that the next day we had dinner with a family in our ward whose dad is a dentist here in Lamar. So, after dinner he took us to his office and fixed her retainer. We as missionaries are truly blessed!

Bad news... I ate chocolate! We were eating lunch at the Bishop’s house and his wife had got the dessert all ready for us and it had chocolate in it. I didn't know what to do because she had already made it for me and I didn't want to waste it. So, I told myself that I would just eat it – and might as well enjoy it while I eat it – so that is just what I did! It was cookies and cream pudding and it was actually really good. So sorry grandpa! Don't worry, I will be more careful in the future.

I FINALLY had some real Mexican food! Christina (investigator) showed us how to make some really good bean burritos – lard and all! Then, the next day she made us some super good Mexican rice with Menudo. The Menudo was pretty good – but she waited until after we finished eating it – to tell us that the meat was cow stomach lining. I love Christina! She is an awesome cook and she teaches us how to make it the real Mexican way. While we were eating, we were talking about how she felt at church. She said that it was really good and that all her kids really liked it. But, the first thing she told us was, "Girls – I have never seen so many cute white boys in my life!" Ha, ha, ha, ha – I am pretty sure we laughed for 5 minutes straight after that!

This Sunday we were waiting for Christina to come to church and we never saw her and the services were about to start. So, we went outside and before we knew it, we were RUNNING to her apartment which is a couple of blocks down the street. While we were running, we kept thinking to ourselves, "What are we doing?" but we kept running! Once we got to her apartment, we kept knocking until she opened the door. She immediately apologized for waking up late. We didn't take any excuses and we immediately helped her and her kids get ready for church as fast as we could. We made it back to the church just as testimony meeting was beginning. You could tell that Christina was feeling the Spirit because she was crying the whole time. It was an amazing testimony meeting and probably one of the most spiritual ones that I have ever been to. After church, Christina told us, "You guys are like my mom and I am so glad that you made us come to church today because it made me feel so much better." Man, I love Christina! We were talking to her later that day and she said that we are the best influences that she has ever had in her house. Since we have been visiting with her (about a week and a half), she has not done any drugs, smoked, and has only had coffee one time. The coffee was a complete accident, so yesterday we brought her over some hot chocolate that we had in our apartment.

We were driving through Holly and there was a random church that had these words on their sign: "Heaven, don't miss it for the world!" It is so true and I love that quote!

Scripture of the Week – D&C 88:11-13
11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;
12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space –
13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.

Quote of the Week – by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
"There may be some among you who feel darkness encroaching upon you. You may feel burdened by worry, fear, or doubt. To you and to all of us, I repeat a wonderful and certain truth: God's light is real. It is available to all! It gives life to all things. It has the power to soften the sting of the deepest wound. It can be a healing balm for the loneliness and sickness of our souls. In the furrows of despair, it can plant the seeds of a brighter hope. It can enlighten the deepest valleys of sorrow. It can illuminate the path before us and lead us through the darkest night into the promise of a new dawn."

Misionera Amor!
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams

First Transfer in the Mish!

Hola!

First transfer – what!? I am still here in Lamar with Sister Moser – thank goodness! I am so glad that I get to stay here with these people longer because they mean so much to me. Our district leader (Elder Godfrey) is leaving and it is so sad! He is my "papa" in the mission. But he is on to another adventure as a zone leader! Transfers are really sad because a lot of missionaries leave your zone, but new missionaries come in and you are able to meet new people so I am really excited for that.

My Zone P-Day

We had a HUGE rainstorm last week. It was dumping buckets of water! We had to run to the store to grab something and we got soaked from just the car to the store. The streets were filled with water and we hydroplaned a couple of times – it was awesome! A lot of houses flooded. We were at the Ortiz's house for dinner and Kevin (dad) decided that he should check their basement during dinner because a lot of other homes were being flooded. Well, their basement was definitely flooded. So, right after dinner we went to work on the flooding, dresses and all! Their son’s room was down there and it was like a teenager’s room – lots of garbage and clothes on the floor. Everything was wet. We used a little vacuum thing to vacuum up the water and we put all the garbage in the trash and the wet clothes in the laundry. The carpet was ruined so we ripped it up. It was actually really fun but it was really disgusting! We were able to clean everything up as best as we could. After that, we went straight home (it was 9:00 pm already) and washed everything that we had on and took a shower because we were disgusting!

I had my 6 week conference call this week! Well, they told us the call was at 1:00 pm so we were ready at 1:00 pm. But…we are on a different time zone so we missed it! Oh well, they understood. Now we know so next time we can be ready.

We rode bikes for the first time this week! I didn't have a bike and Sister Moser's bike is broken, so we borrowed the Elder’s bikes for the day. We actually only rode them for like a half of a mile so that wasn't bad at all. The only downside is the whole hair situation – thank goodness for ponytails. On Zone P-Day, I bought a sister’s bike that was going home so now I have my own bike! I am excited because I miss riding my bike. But, I don't think Sister Moser is too excited about riding bikes.

One of the miracles this week was that we were over at a less active’s home (Zariciah) teaching her about service. Her neighbor came over to bring her kids over to play – and when she walked in – she looked really uncomfortable. She asked us if she could sit in on the lesson and of course we said yes! She listened to the lesson and started to be a little more comfortable. When we finished talking to Zariciah – Christina (the girl that walked in) – said that she could tell something was different as soon as she walked in. She said that she had never felt that way before and that it was such a happy feeling. We explained to her that it was the Holy Ghost and that she could have the Holy Ghost with her always if she did the things that the Lord commanded. Christina has been really having a hard time, especially with drugs, and she now has a desire to change. We invited her to church the next day and she came! She brought all of her kids and she stayed the whole time. It was a miracle! The Spirit truly does testify to others that this is the restored gospel and that Christ lives. Christina didn't even know what we were talking about when she walked in but she could feel it. What an amazing experience!

This is our experience from last night (Sister Moser wrote it)…

Now this experience is not supposed to scare anyone...but we were driving home to Lamar and we had just gotten out of Holly which is about 30 minutes away and all the roads are two way roads and the speed limit is 70 mph. Sister Adams and I were having a good talk and listening to music when this car started coming straight at us in our lane – head first! Well, we both sat there kind of nervous about what to do but luckily this car barely missed us. I had to swerve out of the way but there was this barrier on the other side and I didn’t want to hit it and I remember saying in my head, "Lord, I don’t know what I am supposed to do." Instantly, I felt as though the car was driving itself. I watched this car barely hit the side of our car and we drove away without any damage. I then realized that if that car hit us it would have taken our lives due to our speed. Now I have never been faced with a car coming at me head on and there were several things that went through my head. It confirmed to me of my testimony of the Plan of Salvation. All will be well when we put our trust in the Lord. Even if it was my time to go, I know that everything would be as it was supposed to be. I am grateful for the Spirit and its comfort. I know that TJ was there to help us because there is no way that we should have not been hit!

Jacob 6:12 (Our Mission President’s Favorite Scripture)

"O be wise; what can I say more?"

Misionera Amor!
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams

My First Baptism!!!

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

This week was awesome! It started out with an adventure...
Last Monday night, Hermana Moser was in bed (it was about 10:15 pm) and I was making sure our doors were locked. I checked the front door – and as I went to lock it – I heard yelling outside. This caught my attention so I turned off all the lights and sat on the couch and watched out the window. Outside there was a couple that was arguing. The girl looked super scared and the boyfriend – or whoever he was – was freaking out. It started to get really heated and you could tell that he was starting to get violent so I ran into the bedroom to get Hermana Moser. At the same time, she ran out of the bedroom because she had heard all of the noise. We grabbed the phone and called a member (Brother Durst) who lives down the street. Brother Durst responded super-fast and came down the street in his minivan to the rescue. As soon as he was in sight, the guy hit the girl and starting choking her. Brother Durst just shined his lights on the couple and the guy stopped. Anyhow, the cops came and took him away. What a night! The girl was okay and we haven't heard anything since.

Hermana Moser and I have not learned our lesson about mosquito repellent. We were teaching a male Spanish speaker so we were outside and we got eaten alive! We had about 20 bug bites on each leg and they itched so bad! We have mosquito repellent but we always forget to use it. That night, Hermana Moser woke up at 3:00 am and was in so much pain because of her bites. So we tried to do all that we could to stop the itching. She washed her legs in vinegar, used anti-itch cream, and all that we could think of. Our last resort was to Saran Wrap an ice pack on her legs. So, here we were at 3:00 am playing doctor, but the ice pack worked for a little while! We were both exhausted in the morning because we were up for so long trying to stop the itching.

Sunday was an awesome day! It started off a little crazy because Brother Ortiz passed out after he blessed the Sacrament, so that was really exciting for everyone. Luckily, there were members who were able to catch him. After that, he went to the hospital. They don't know completely what is wrong with him but he is doing a lot better. After Sacrament, we were sitting by a family and I noticed that the kids next to me were giggling. I looked over at them and one of the kids drew a portrait of me. I could not stop laughing! It was actually really good and he is only like eight years old! His name is Cameron and he is the cutest kid ever. He had his mom make a copy of the drawing after church so both of us could have one.

Sister Peterson came up to me and gave me a present at church. I opened it after church and it was a bunch of jewelry that she had – they were beautiful! At church I always comment on how beautiful her jewelry is so that is why she gave me some of her jewelry. She wrote me the sweetest letter that said that every sister missionary deserves some pretty jewelry. I love her so much and she is seriously like an angel here in Lamar.

My First Baptism

Marla (mom) David (dad) Nathan (12) Bethany (8)

After church was the baptism! Yay!! It was quite hectic though. There was a lot of support from the ward so that was awesome. The AP's even came all the way from Wichita for the baptism. Marla's baptism suit was super tight, so we asked her if she wanted a bigger one, and she said that she was fine because she wouldn't be able to even get this one off in time to change before the baptism. So that was pretty hilarious. But they did awesome and all of them are officially baptized and they are so happy. I love that family so much!!

Scripture of the week: Moses 6:59-61
59 That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;
60 For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;
61 Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.

Love y'all!

Misionera Amor!
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams

The Yellow Brick Road

Hola mi familia y amigos!

Last week I gave a little talk in Sacrament Meeting and this week we sang with the Young Women because they didn't have very many there. This week at Sacrament Meeting was amazing! We have been working with many less active members of the ward this week and it truly is paying off. I have never seen so many people here at church in Lamar! The Hicks came and had their baptismal interview and they all walked out of their interviews with beaming smiles on their faces. Next Sunday is their baptism - awesome!!!! This is my first baptism! I don’t know how to explain it, but it warms my soul (cheesy, but true) when people accept the gospel and change their lives.

I saw the sweetest chick fight this week! We were having a meal at Abby's house and all of a sudden we heard screaming outside. We all ran to the window and Abby's sister and her friend were going at it. The friend hopped in her car to drive away and Abby's sister went over to talk with her. The friend grabbed Abby's sister's hair and started reversing! I thought that she was going to get run over but luckily they were both okay. It was just not something that I was expecting during our lovely meal.

It was Sister Ortiz's (recent convert in December 2013) birthday last Thursday so we made cupcakes for her on Monday (P-Day). We thought that they would be rock hard by Thursday so we just kept them in the fridge – and by some miracle – they were still delicious on Thursday. Who would have guessed!? We also put a little "care package" together for her present. Their family is dear to my heart! They don't have much but they sure do take care of us missionaries.

I SAW MY FIRST TORNADO!

Well, it was actually a "Dust Devil". Really lame...but it was better than nothing.

We went to a Mission President Devotional in Liberal, Kansas on Sunday and it was amazing! It was 3 hours away and that is a lot of driving! Zariciah (our recent convert) took us and we had a fun little road trip. Of course, we had road trip treats and lots of church music.

Dorothy's House in Liberal, KS

Liberal, Kansas is where they filmed part of “The Wizard of Oz” and so they have the original house and everything there. We got to Liberal a little early so we went and saw the house. It was so fun! We literally only had 5 minutes to spend there but now I feel like I am a real Kansas missionary now that I have seen Dorothy's house. Fun, Fun, Fun!

This quote by Dennis C. Gaunt was in the Ensign this month and I absolutely loved it:
When we “act upon this land as for years,” we begin to recognize opportunities we may not have seen before. We may also see that some of these opportunities may never come our way again. Then we think, “As long as I’m here, I’m going to get involved, do the best I can, and choose to be happy. I’ll continue to hope for the future, but in the meantime, let me do some good here.” It’s the difference between treading water and actually swimming.

Love y'all…

Misionera Amor!
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams

My Two Month Mark – WHAT!?

OUR ZONE!

Hola!

Can you believe that it has already been two months? Man, time flies by...especially in the field. This week was great!

We ate dinner at a member’s house this week with the Elders and we had tacos. Elder Apgood ate a jalapeno and his whole face swelled up! It was hilarious. His lips turned super red and he tried everything to cool his mouth and lips down. He was sweating like crazy! He drank milk, used ice, ice cream, ChapStick, sat by the air conditioner, EVERYTHING! We went to a birthday party right after dinner so he was miserable the whole time. The heat lasted about an hour. Apparently they were different jalapenos. The rest of us were smart and didn't grab any to eat.

I had my first exchange this week and it was amazing! I went with Sister Huff to Dodge City, KS. We had dinner at a member’s house with the other set of sister missionaries there in Dodge. The family we ate with all spoke Spanish and English, but the mom only knew Spanish. I was the only Spanish speaking missionary there, so the kids would translate what was said to their mom. After dinner when it came time for a little lesson, Sister Huff turned to me and asked if I would give it in Spanish. I was not expecting that, so I just did what I could and gave the thought in Spanish. None of the other missionaries knew anything that was said – and to be honest – the family probably didn't understand either. Regardless, it was an amazing experience and the Spirit really blessed me at that time with the gift of tongues, because my Spanish is very little. Gotta love Spanish and the Spirit!

After dinner we had an appointment with a gal named Cece. They found Cece at a gas station. A couple years ago Cece met with missionaries and knew a lot about our church. Long story short – when the missionaries went over for their first visit – Cece came out with 5 Book of Mormons, multiple copies of all the pamphlets, and the Christ video in Spanish. She knew that everything was true; she was just waiting to meet with missionaries and be baptized. It was a miracle! She is an amazing woman. She lives on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere on a little farm with every animal imaginable. She had so many ducks! Of course, I took a picture of all of them because I thought it was hilarious. But there is no way that the missionaries would have found her at her house, and that is why the Spirit directed these missionaries to meet her at the gas station.

On the way to Zone Conference this week (2 hours away), we had a HUGE storm! It was sweet! When we first left, it wasn't bad at all. After 5 minutes of driving – it was hailing, raining, wind blowing, and we could hardly see in front of us. Thanks to Kansas and Colorado, the towns are like 20-30 miles apart. So, at some point, we just pulled off on the side of the road and said a prayer because we didn't know what to do. Then we continued to keep going until we got to Holly. Once we got to Holly, we waited out a little bit of the storm and called the District Leaders to see what we should do. The storm settled and we were able to make it safely. What an adventure!

One of our appointments on Saturday fell through so we decided to go see a less active named Elise Perez. I have never met her before and it had been a while since the missionaries had seen her. We were on our way to her house and Sister Moser wanted to hurry and stop at the little grocery store so she could get some cold water (she ONLY drinks cold water, she is funny). We stopped at the store and as we were checking out we were talking to the cashier, and then the cashier said that she used to see missionaries like us. We got really excited, and turns out it was Elise Perez! What!? It was awesome – what a miracle.

The Hicks family (baptism is on the 24th) had their in-laws over this weekend and they are very anti-Mormon. It kind of caused tension at their home so we were really worried that they wouldn't come to church. They live in Syracuse so it is an hour away from the church. They don't have much money so it makes it really hard for them to come to church. Hermana Moser and I went to church and the Hicks weren't there. It was so sad – but then 10 minutes after church started – they all walked in. It was such a great feeling! This is the first time I have seen them at church and I don't know how to explain it; it was just amazing to see them walk into the chapel. Gotta love being a missionary!

Lamar only has one ward and the ward is kind of struggling right now. People really don't interact with one another and they aren't really united as one – they are very individual. That is our big focus for the week because we need a strong ward to keep our investigators and recent converts active. We have a ward BBQ this week, so hopefully that will help. Our area is about 1 hour in every direction of Lamar so it is huge! We mainly focus in Lamar because it is a lot of miles to get out to the little towns and hard to have someone drive an hour to church – but it is definitely possible!

Thought of the Week (Lawrence E. Corbridge):
"You may permit the Lord to change your nature if you give yourself to Him and to His work. He cannot work on what He does not have, and He cannot have you, unless you give yourself, to Him.”

Misionera Amor
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams

Another Week In Lamar, CO!

Hola!

Shout out to Chaz and Lacey for their 3 year anniversary! Whoa!!

The weeks fly by so fast in the field! This week was awesome! We taught 3 people in Spanish this week.

Stana – one of our less active members – had a big surgery this week. We visit her every week and share a message and try and get her to come back to church. This week when we went over to her house we did these facial scrub things, it was so fun! They are sugar scrubs and it makes your skin feel super soft. After that, we were talking to her about the surgery that she was going to have on her stomach the next day and she was super worried about it, so we asked her if she wanted a blessing. She said “Yes”, so we told the Elders and the Elders came over and gave her a blessing. It was a beautiful blessing and you could tell that she and everyone else in the room could feel the Spirit. Her son and his girlfriend, her other boy, and her boyfriend were there with us. None of them are active, but they all commented on how awesome the blessing and feelings of the blessing was. Yay! Please pray for Stana because she needs lots of help at this time.

We have an investigator named Carmen. We go over to her place and she always has a list of questions from the Bible. Her question this week was one that I didn't know how to completely answer, so I would love to get feedback. It is in Revelation 14:1-5. Who are the 144,000 that it is talking about? I did some research, but my little brain couldn't rap all the way around it. So, if anyone knows more about this, please share. Anyway, it was Carmen's birthday this week and she invited us over for her birthday party (she is like 45). It was so fun! They had amazing food – it was barbecue with tortillas (they are Mexican). Her family was so inviting and loving. We were the only non-family members there, so that was pretty cool! Happy Birthday Carmen!

This week is the Lamar rodeo/fair/parade. I wish we could go, but there isn't anything going on today. A lot of the people we visit say that it is so much fun! One of the bands from Saturday night actually came to church yesterday and we got to meet them. They are a country band from Nashville and they were all redheads. They were so sweet and I wish I could have heard them play.

Lamar is awesome! There are nice houses and there are ghettos. We spend most of our time in the ghettos because they are more receptive to the gospel. Just this last week, we had a guy that was beaten to death and another guy that got shot in the alley. Sketchy!

Our ward members here are awesome but we are still trying to get them more involved in missionary work. This week, I experienced my first time having 2 meals in one night. We had Tika Masala (or however you spell it) and then pizza with another family. The Tika Masala was delicious!!!! I ate way too much, so it was even harder to eat pizza afterward. Johnni would not have liked it because we know how she is with her Indian food.

Speaking of food... 
If anyone has any suggestions for good quick/easy/healthy meals that would be wonderful! I love food but I just don't know what to make.

Scripture of the week: Mosiah 5:15
This was our scripture when I was in the Young Women’s program. I read it this week in the Book of Mormon and I absolutely love it!

Misionera Amor!
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams