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.

Transfer: South Salt Lake

My Rose Park District.

Me and my old companion Sister Bragg.

Me and Hermana Ibarra, Nielsen and Bragg, with Elder Andrus in back.

I have been transferred! After two weeks and one day I have already served in two areas, which is pretty much the same as the majority of sisters here. So I am no longer living in Rose Park, but I am living in South Salt Lake. My new companion is Sister Arias. She is from Guatemala, is super nice, and is actually a Temple Square sister that is now doing the proselyting part of the mission. There are four of us living in the same apartment, so I actually got put back with my MTC companion, Sister Vincent. Sister Arias and Sister McNelly were companions, but when Sister Vincent and I came, they split the area. Unfortunately, Sister Arias mostly served in the other area so we are pretty much starting from scratch here. Yeah, two weeks in the field, and we're already white washing. Let's just say that I really know why the Area Book is important now.

Me and Hermana Nielsen after biking back from Temple Square.

Life in South Salt Lake is definitely different than in Rose Park. I think that my Mom was praying a little too hard for my safety because I haven't been able to break up any fights here. But it's all good, this area feels more like Utah instead of Mexico, but it's okay!

Running through the sprinklers after our last transfer.

The people here really are great, and we meet people on the street everyday. One guy was fixing his car yesterday, and we ended up talking to him for a good half hour or so. It really is surprising how so many people live in Utah, and really have no idea what the Book of Mormon is. Crazy Crazy Crazy.

Hermana Vincent and I in our new T-Shirts, on the first day in South Salt Lake!

I really hope that the weather clears up soon because nobody is outside when it's freezing. Which pretty much makes it impossible to find people.

Me and Sister Ibarra touching ET my last night in Rose Park.

Well, once again, I don't know when I will be switching Location so I can't really give out my address. Either email me or wait until I can confidently say what my address is! I miss and love you all!

One night someone brought us 2 dozen roses!

Hermana Vincent and I transferred to China!

General Conference Weekend

Wow, so much to write about during the weeks here because so much more happens than in the MTC. So I will just start talking.

First off, we broke up a fight a few days ago. We were in the middle of a lesson with a recent convert, and someone called her, and then she immediately ran out of her house and told us to follow her. We ran for a few blocks to find that her daughter was being beaten up by her boyfriend. We broke it up, and started walking our separate ways, and then the boyfriend turned around and started telling us (within his curse words) how he pretty much worships the devil. Needless to say, the cops were involved, and it was a little crazy. But don't worry, I feel 100% safe here! The moral of the story: Don't drink or do drugs. This guy was foaming at the mouth, and I have no idea what caused it. One thing about here is the fact that the families are so broken and have so many problems. It makes you really appreciate the Gospel and how it blesses families.

Have you guys ever seen the Other Side of Heaven? Remember Elder Feki, Elder Groberg's mission companion? We met the real life Feki's Sister our walking the other day. It was super cool, and it's kind of cool because my Branch President in the MTC served in Tonga, and Elder Groberg was his Mission President. Yeah, crazy small world.

 

So the other night we were walking around, and all of our apartments were falling through. We had been trying to visit with this guy for a while, but we haven't been able to. My companion was pulling our her phone, and then it flew her hands and fell off the balcony. It pretty much landed on this man, and then we started talking. He was so open to everything, and he is probably the sweetest man that we have ever met. His name is Edgar, and he is from Guatemala. He was absolutely awesome. We asked him if we could visit him again, and as we were walking to his house, we saw him on the front porch reading the Book of Mormon! We were so excited! He had been reading it for 20 minutes before we even got there! People always say that they will read or pray, but he actually does it! He even came to general conference, which was absolutely awesome! He said that he loved it. The people here really are so great, and it is going to be hard to say goodbye when my visa does come.

There have been so many blessings of being here. I mean, got to be a missionary in Salt Lake during conference! We got to go to the first session which was so cool. It's funny because I have lived in Utah my entire life, and I never went to conference until I was on my mission. Fun fact, the conference center has 20,595 seats in it. They told us that 90,000 people come to Temple Square for conference. It really is pretty amazing! And I got to see Liza! Which was absolutely fantastic! And it was beautiful weather, which was especially nice for us because we biked to Temple Square both days. It's funny because within a week, I will have gone to Temple Square 4 times. That's over half the week.

I can't believe my mission is what it is. I thought that when I went to Salt Lake before my mission it would be the last opportunity that I would have for 18 months. It's crazy how fast plans can change, but it's pretty remarkable at the same time.

Also, letters.. for now. I would probably just email me because I have no idea if I am staying for another transfer or if I will be done. It is absolutely crazy right now!

I love you all, and I hope that you are all doing well!

-Hermana Jamie Vawdrey

Temporarily Reassigned to the Utah, Salt Lake City Mission

So for those of you that haven't heard, I have been temporary reassigned to the Salt Lake City Mission. But it doesn't feel like Utah. We are in Rose Park, and it's pretty much a MiniMexico. I forget that I am only 30 minutes away from home, until I am either on Redwood Road, North Temple, or I look to see the state capital building. Really though, it's so strange!

It's crazy because in the MTC, I felt like we did the same thing everyday. And now, even though we are still doing the same thing everyday, there are so many crazy things that happen. The people here have some crazy life stories, but for the most part, the people here are really nice! The first few days were a little bit rough readjusting to mission life, but I have learned to enjoy it!

I should start by saying that in this mission, I probably gain on average 10 lbs/day. We have the opportunity to be fed by members every night. The food tastes so good, but there is SOO MUCH! On Saturday, we had a dinner appointment with Margarita. She is the nicest lady (which actually all of them are), but she prepared so much food. And culturally, it's offensive if you don't eat it. So... We go to her house, and we start eating, and as we're eating, she pretty much keeps putting more food on our plates. It was such a struggle; we all gave each other the look of "I am going to throw up," but we put on our happy faces and kept eating. The only thing that I could think of was in the movie Matilda when Bruce has to eat the rest of the chocolate cake. I thought one serving was big, but then there were two, then three... It felt like it was never going to end.. I just had to keep thinking, "Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!" But I made it through! Oh, but that's not the end of the story. After our dinner appointment, we were walking down the street, and we hear a party going on. My companions (we're in a foursome right now) walked behind the house and started talking. They were so welcoming us, and made us sit down with them. They offered us food, beer, and dessert. We insisted that we were fine, but before we knew it, there was pozole in front of us, and there was no choice. We ate it, and I didn't even think that it was even possible. Anyway, we thought we were going to explode, but OH WAIT, the story isn't over yet. We rode our bikes down the street to go to our next appointment. When we got the house we realized that they were having a party, too. It was pretty much the exact same party, too. The blaring Spanish music, the bounce house, and the mass amounts of food. To make a long story short, they fed us as well, but OH WAIT, after we left that party, we met a member at the church to pick up some clothes. The Sister gets out of her car, and says, "Look what I got for you sisters!" She brought us different sweet breads. Mine was an enamorada, which tasted divine, but as soon as we got home I decided that I never wanted to eat again.

But then the same thing pretty much happened the next day. Maybe it was just because it was Easter, but so much more food. We actually got done having lunch with some of the members, and then we here, "Hey Sistas" in a deep Tongan voice. "Come here, I want to show you something."--"You're not going to feed us right?" He just had the biggest grin, and when we walked into the house, it was full of food. Living room, kitchen, backyard, no importa.. it was everywhere! They kept making us eat, but at least it all tastes good! The polynesians definitely know how to cook, too! Mmmmmm! And that was all before our dinner appointment!

On to maybe something a little more applicable to the gospel..

So last night was definitely an interesting Easter. There are three different types of people when teaching a lesson: the interested, the bored, and the dark. It was really interesting because last night, I got a dose of the dark. Even though I really couldn't understand everything that was going on, I could definitely feel a difference in that room. It was good to have an experience that I could compare to, but I don't think I want to teach a murderer that has no desire to change ever again. But don't worry Mom, I am on the Lord's team.

Well, let's just say things are pretty crazy here! And I don't know when I will be shipping off to Argentina, so just email me if you want because now I can email whoever!

Love you all,

Hermana Vawdrey