Transferred Again!

The Steele family knew that I liked Utah State and decided to show their support!

I can't even explain my last few days. Would you believe me if I said that I have been transferred again? Let me start with Saturday.

The last picture of Sister Vincent, Pratt and Mahterian.

Saturday morning we woke up, and we were all pumped because of the baptism and everything! It was going to be the BEST day ever! (Which it still was, it was just a little hectic). So we woke up, and one of our investigators called, and told us that there was something that he needed and could not do it by himself! He pretty much just said, "so you guys are always asking if there is something that you can do for me, and I finally found something that I would never be able to figure out. Can you put curlers in my daughter's hair for her recital tonight?" We went over there and helped him out, it was hilarious because he really had NO idea what he was doing. I don't really know why I explained that story, but I guess I am just telling about the entire day.

Us in beautiful Stansbury

Right after we got done with her hair, we got a call from the Assistants saying, "Okay, we have some good news and some bad news. One of the sisters has gone home, and Sister Vawdrey will be transferred to her new area today. Go home, pack up, and get her there." Mind you, we had a baptism in approximately a short amount of time. Within like an hour, we called all of our appointments for the day to reschedule, packed up all my stuff, and rushed to my new home. We then grabbed my new companion and all went to the baptism.

Which is when the day really did get good! Vikki's baptism was unbelievable. She currently has a daughter on a mission, and her other daughters have already been baptized. Her husband had been less active for a long time, but she really wanted him to baptize her. What a need experience we had with them! Her husband received the priesthood at 3:30, baptized his wife at 4:00, and confirmed her at 4:30! She was so excited because in a year from now they get to go to the temple and be married for TIME and ALL ETERNITY! She had so much support there that it was unbelievable, and even the President's wife came! Really, it was absolutely awesome, and it was a good way to end my time in Stansbury!

Now, I am in the city of Tooele.. which is the sister city of some Russian town which I can never remember the name of. Which what does it even mean to be a sister city? Anyway, we are now in an area that sisters have not been in for 20 years, so everyone is pretty ecstatic to have us here. I am still completely lost at what I am doing, but at least it's in my native language so I can learn somewhat faster. I don't really know much about the investigators yet because well, I have only been in this area for a couple days. Which is pretty cool, but it's also pretty stressing.

Well, I don't really know what else to write...

LOVE YOU ALL!

-Hermana (well now Sister) Vawdrey

Us imitating our reaction when Sister Pratt hit and killed a bird in the middle of the road.

Sister Pratt and I dancing in the rain.

Sister Vincent and Sister Pratt in the rain the night before I knew I was getting transferred..

My dad has the gift of prophecy!

My district in South Salt Lake

I'm going to Tooele!

Did I tell you that my dad has the gift of prophecy? Let me explain.

So when I was on the long, treacherous drive from Logan to Highland the night that I opened my mission call, I was a wee bit late. My dad sent me a text that said, "sorry, honey, we couldn't wait for you anymore! We opened up your call and congratulations you are going to Tooele, Utah!" It was hilarious then, but it's even funnier now because I am serving in Tooele, Utah! Actually, it's Stansbury, and it is absolutely gorgeous here! I love it so much!

Sister Pratt, Sister Mahterian, myself and Sister Vincent

Transfers last week were pretty crazy because I thought for sure that I would not be moved out of that area, but I was! And now, I am serving with the coolest peeps in Stansbury! Sister Vincent and I are companions, and we are serving in English! Man, it's a lot different! It's a lot of fun, and I am learning so much from each area that I am serving in! So there are four of us now! Sister Mahterian is the one that is teaching all of us the area, and the only way that I can describe her is the way that she describes herself: "The Mormon Jewish girl that went to a Catholic school with turrets." She is pretty sure she deserves a scholarship for all of that, which is totally true! Also, there is Sister Pratt! Probably the sweetest girl I have EVER known, and she's from Ohio so she has the super cute Ohioan accent! Then there's Sister Vincent.. (Herman Vincent). Which it's a good thing that we really do love each other because we have been sleeping in the same room for 11 out of the 13 weeks that we have been on our missions, and now we are companions again. Good thing we both have a good idea of what we're doing (sarcasm).

Sister Vincent and I have been companions 11 out of the 13 weeks of our missions!

Really though, we are having a lot of fun! We love our President and Sister Winn and all of the people in this mission! It is absolutely great to have them here, and they like us too! They told us that a lot of visa waiters do exactly that.. just wait. So I am trying to do all I can to be a visa worker instead of a visa waiter!

The day we get our visas will be a little sad because we are loving it here! Also, conference edition of the Ensign has A LOT of missionaries from our mission so just keep that in mind as you read it.

Life happens super past, and a lot of the times it doesn't happen the way we want, but keep being excited for what's going to happen next and don't waste your time focusing so much on how things should be different. It's that way for a reason! As Sister Winn always says, "Joy in the Journey." Love you all, and I will see you all in.. to be honest I have no idea!

Sisters serving with a smile!

Love you all! Email me, alright? Because we really have no idea what's going on with us!

Covered in Book of Mormons!

One of My Favorite Parts About Missionary Work is Service

My District

So one of my favorite parts about Missionary Work is service. We do random things for random people and it's super fun. One of our investigator's works at Beto's, and so we just thought that we would stop by just to see if we could set up an appointment with him later on. So we were in there talking to him and whatnot, and we asked if there was anything we could do for them. Jokingly, they said, "You can come back here and help with us if you want." They were pretty surprised when we said yes. So they went outside to check to see if it was okay with their boss. The boss gave us the go, so we went into the back and helped them. They had a HUGE box of avocados.. like at least a hundred. Our job was to pit all of the avocados into a bucket. So we did for about an hour, but while we were doing it the Boss came out and started to talk with us. He was super impressed that we were just helping them with no pay, and then he said, "what time is church tomorrow?" We gave him all the details and said, "Alright, us three will be there." Super cool.

 

 

Michaela's Wedding

 

Next, I want to talk about one of our investigators. So, she has been taught a lot by the missionaries. Like, since December-ish. Anyway, when they first started teaching her, she was a very very dark kind of person. I don't really know how to describe it, but even at the beginning when I was teaching her there was just something missing. Which, if you knew the family situations in pretty much any of the families that we are teaching, it's pretty crazy. But one of the most rewarding things is to be able to really see the difference that the gospel makes in people's lives. We invited her and her sister-in-law to both be baptized and they both accepted and had their baptismal interviews. They are scheduled to be baptized on the 18 of this month, and we are just praying that they both stay on date. Wow, it really is so crazy to see how much they have changed!

 

The Sisters from South Salt Lake and Rose Park with Sister Pedro

Me on Sister Vincent's Shoulders at the Top of Ensign Peak

Also, this morning, we got to hike to Ensign Peak as a mission and it was so much fun! It was actually SUPER hot, but still a lot of fun! It really is super weird being in the same state as a missionary that you are from!

Well, peace and blessings! Just email me because they only guaranteed President Winn one full transfer so as soon as I get my visa, I am out of here.

Over and out.

-Hermana Jamie Vawdrey

Me and Sister Arias Bowling

The Sisters Out to Lunch

Being Gangsters in our "Guo for AP" Shirts While Doing Laundry

Us Holding Sister Adorable

Having a Little Fun Overlooking Salt Lake City

Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

This week.. where to even begin? I will start with Saturday.

Saturday was a crazy day for us because we left our house at about 6:30 in the morning to bike to Salt Lake to do service. The whole mission got involved with the Comcast Cares efforts, and we were assigned to paint. We painted the walls of the homeless shelter at the Gateway, and it was a lot of fun. By the end of the day, we had paint all over (which I still actually have paint on me). It was really entertaining because people who lived there kept walking through the halls saying stuff like.. "Whoa. Thanks for the free buzz", "Oh my.. the missionaries are making me high", and my favorite was this guy who came walking past all of us saying, "OH YEAH, I am goin' a be walkin' through these halls all day. ALL DAY!" Seriously though, there were no windows or anything so what they were saying was partially true.

Right after the service we had a wedding to go to. Let me explain the circumstances. So this is a lady that I was teaching in Rose Park (and when I say teaching, I mean I was sitting there while my companion taught her because I couldn't understand anything). Anyway, she has been wanting to get baptized for a LONG time, but hasn't been able to because she married a man in Mexico when she was 13, but he left her after a month. She hasn't been able to find him, but has been living with another man for 37 years. 37 years! They couldn't get married because she couldn't find her first husband to get a legal divorce. Some miracles happened after she decided that she was going to be baptized. She decided that she really wanted to get baptized on that Thursday, got her marriage license Friday, and had the wedding that Saturday. The wedding was so much fun, and it was such a privilege to see her finally be able to be legally married to her husband! And next week she gets to be baptized. WHOA.

Another cool experience that happened was at after a dinner appointment the other week. So we ate dinner and asked if the couple knew of anyone that needed to gospel in their lives. They didn't, but they told us that there was a hispanic family that just moved in two doors down. We were going to contact them a different day, but we got the feeling that no.. we need to visit them now. We turned around and went to the door. They were so nice and let us in. Turns out that they were members, and they had just switched neighborhoods. He was involved in the stake in the Burton ward, and his wife was in the relief society. They had been considering staying in the Burton ward, but they said that if Missionaries stopped by to invite them to the Granite ward, then they would switch wards. Lo and behold, we showed up at the perfect time. And let me tell you, our ward NEEDS this family! It's so great being a part of it all.

Okay, one more cool experience. So let me preface this... There is this lady that we have been trying to find for about the whole time that I have been in this area, but she is NEVER home. Either that, or she is ignoring us. Both are totally plausible. Anyway, we were knocking doors, and I had a pretty strong feeling saying, "you need to go see her, and you need to do it now". I don't usually get my answers or anything like that so I was a little hesitant. Long story short, we went, and her kids were outside. Which by the way, her kids love me. I like talking to kids because they are the one's that are teaching me my Spanish. They are awesome. Anyway, we visited with her for a while, and it was great! It's not like one of those stories where we followed the spirit, and BAM she wanted to be baptized that day. Sometimes, however, it's just good to be in the right place at the right time even if it just helps someone for half a day.

Anyway, that's all. Maybe next week I will know if I am going to Argentina. Everyone in this mission is freaking out because they might get "easted". Yeah, the mission is splitting soon, and everyone has their predictions and everything. Who knows, maybe I will get to serve in three missions?

Love you all!

Mission Life in South Salt Lake

My companion, Sister Arias and I at temple square.

I don't even know how to start or where. The first few days after I was transferred to So. South Lake were probably the longest days of my entire life, and now the time is picking up a little bit. It's really hard to explain how the days go here, and I never realized how dependent we are on members. Seriously, this mission has taught me so much about the kind of member that I want to be when I come back. Seriously people, do your home teaching and visiting teaching!

So anyway, on Saturday we got to go to Temple Square to teach one of our investigators which was a lot of fun! We rode the trax up and everything! It was really cool to be able to go through the visitor centers and remember what they even have there. Especially when you're teaching. Granted, I didn't teach too much because the T^2 sisters take care of it. It's cool that we get to take people to Temple Square, and we can use it as a resource to help other people feel the spirit.

It was pretty funny because on the way back we ran into so many people coming back from the Festival of Colors. My companion wanted to ask everyone if she could have a picture with them because it was so funny that they just had all this colorful chalk on them.

Sister Vincent and I dressed for cold weather.

So for those of you who don't know.. I talk in my sleep. ALOT. And lately it's been a lot in spanish. Last night I gave Hermana Vincent a heart attack because sat up and said, "WHOA! What is going on? Are you guys running?" and then apparently Sister McNelly in her sleep rolled over and said, "yeah..." We have conversations in our sleep.

It's really cold here!

Well, it's really cool here. Email me.