No growth in the comfort zone!

7-14-14

Dearest Family....

     So you know how last week when I started my email that I said that week was crazier than it had been in a while...yeah well this one was probably just as crazy...lets all just conclude right now that life as a missionary is nuts. Like totally and certifiably insane.... Yup... 

     So for starters...   I lied.  Well I didn't know I was lying at the moment, but later the "fact" that I told you turned into a "lie"....

   Sister Nomo got transferred.... yup. We were surprised too!

5th companion, 4th in Roosevelt

Monday was spent at Dusty's making food and him teaching me how to make shrimp and chicken Alfredo from scratch (He seriously is a boss chef and I would hire him to be a cook in my castle when I get one someday) We also were still dying of heat so we texted everyone we knew, and Sis Felkins ended up bringing us a window fan and a rotating fan...it was Heaven! It was the first time I had actually slept with my sheets on me for like a week...so yeah... Everything was normal. Sis Nomo and I had accepted the fact that we were staying here in Roosevelt, and life was rolling on as usual...

     Then Tuesday morning came around...And I checked our cell phone, and we had a missed call from President McCune...So I ran into the living room where Sis Nomo was with the words Sis Albrechtsen(first companion) once told me running through my head "Transfer week...nobody is safe..." So we called him back...and SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!! He said "Sis Nomo, we actually want to transfer you, so we will need you and Sis Volmer to travel to transfers tomorrow." So yes. I'm still here. You should have seen people's faces this Sunday when they saw me with yet another new companion... this makes my 4th companion here in Roosevelt...haha! Sis Nomo was pretty happy about it. She has some people she has taught in the valley who are going to the temple soon and she wanted to be there. So Tuesday we had to squeeze all our lessons in and go say goodbye to people that she wanted to see before she headed out. We had some good last memories together and laughed a lot! 

     Wednesday we headed out to Provo and got transferred! My new companion is Sis McMurray! She is AWESOME! I love her! She is super chill and really fun to talk with. We have a lot of the same likes and interests and really similar personalities. I knew the second she put one of her CD's in and music from Mulan and the Newsies came on that we were going to get along great!! We have similar taste in music and style and we teach really well together. She is 20 years old and has been out on her mission for 14 months! Can you say crazy??? She will finish her mission with Sis Balero in November... that will be a sad transfer when all of my friends start going home! She is the 2nd oldest of 8 children and has grown up her whole life in the Air Force, which means she has moved every 2 years of her life so far. She left her mission from Ohio...and will be returning from her mission in Ogden... haha funny, right? She loves horses and I knew we would be great friends when she showed me her Disney Princess Uno card deck... This shall be an adventure of a transfer!

      We had a bonding moment Wednesday night...when a huge spider crawled across my sweatshirt and I screamed... It quickly ran under my bed and hid, so I ran to get a flash light and we were both laying on our stomachs trying to see it under the bed. We had to pull the bed away from the wall, and were both screaming as she dropped a cup on top of it, but was too scared to smash it! Finally our Land lady's daughter came in because we were both screaming and she killed it for us....haha.... not a good thing when both of us are scared of spiders.... Thank heavens I didn't get called to some crazy exotic place with spiders the size of my face.... 

     Thursday was an interesting day as well. It actually rained out here... which is really rare...But it poured and made everything smell like rain and it was the best! But as we were driving to dinner a little light popped up on the dashboard. So Sis McMurray tried to look it up in the manual but couldn't figure out what it was so we drove around with it all over the place for the rest of the evening...haha not good. I'm so car illiterate.... When we got to our last appointment as we were about to leave I called after our Ward Mission Leader Bro Crozier (Bro Crozier is like my adopted grandpa... I love to tease him! And he is always pulling my leg) and he came and checked. "Well that's yer tire pressure!" And sure enough... we had a big piece of metal stuck in one of our back tires and it was going super flat...so Bro Prescott who we've been helping him and his wife prep for the temple, is a retired mechanic...and he changed our tire for us super speedy like and we had to go get it fixed.

     This weekend was really slow...lately weekends here have been lacking in productivity... I went and saw T again... she is still struggling but doing a bit better. It still hurts me how much pain some people go through. It's crazy to hear stories about how much people abuse each other and just all around hurt. I'm just trying to help in any way I can to bring them some light and truth that will bring them eternal happiness. Bro F is getting closer to quitting chewing and wants to take his wife to the temple at the end of August! I'm so excited for them! He is finally beginning to improve! Thanks for all those who have prayed for him! This next week we will be baptizing Meradee (the silly one from the video haha) This Sunday we gave talks in church as well! Mine was about preparing to serve a mission...maybe I'll send it to you! Probably not until next week because I wrote it out instead of typing and I'll have to type it up to send it. L and T actually made it to church this week! I WAS SO SHOCKED AND EXCITED! AH! It was awesome!  L is still hesitant...but small steps small steps. It seems like that's what a lot of people here need. Very very small steps...haha. Spencer Felkins, who is like my little brother out here, gave his farewell talk this Sunday and used my music to Come Thou Fount and sang it to the congregation. He rocked it! His talk was stellar too. I'm so so so impressed with the upcoming youth   sometimes...some of them show this amazing light that can really be the change we need...

Lenise is halfway - 9 months!  Get it? 
What a crazy gal!

I feel like I've been growing a whole lot. A quote that I heard in a meeting recently is "There is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone." This is so true. So so  true.   I've had a lot of change and growth on my mission, but it has come from trials and being stretched. I'm grateful for them, no matter how much they aren't fun in the process. I told that quote to our high councilman and he ended up quoting me in sacrament meeting to try and get members involved in missionary work... I hope all is going well at home and that you are all helping with the missionary work there! I think I've discovered that my biggest pet peeve is when people pray for the missionaries "to be led and guided to find those who will accept the gospel." It's our job to teach the gospel to people.... It's YOUR job to find the people... so when you pray, make sure you are praying for the Lord to help you find people to introduce to the missionaries...

     I love this gospel and I love this church and I love my mission and I love YOU!

     I'm glad you guys had a blast at the coast!!!

LOVE YOU ALL! Miss you! I pray for you!

Love,

Sister Lenise Diane Volmer