It's a Small World

11-18-13

Dear Family!!!

Note: no pictures...I forgot my camera cord :0(

Yet another insane week....what can I say???
      I can't believe I've been gone for a month now.... wow...doesn't feel like it. I can still remember everything so clearly from when I said goodbye to everyone and left, it feels like yesterday. Some days it feels super long, but then others fly by and it all seems like a blur. I get my days soooo confused here, it's crazy. The only day that's different is Sunday, and that's because it is the craziest day of our week! A day of rest? Um...NO!  

       Earlier this week was Zone conference which was super fun, because I ran into Sis Child (My mission best friend) again, and I also got to see Elder Griggs from my district in the MTC! Man I miss those guys! Zone conference was amazing and it lasted all day long. President McCune is so inspiring and amazing. He sets us all on fire with the drive to serve more and more! He sat next to us during lunch and laughed really hard with us. One of our zone leaders in named Elder Harpol, and he's been out 21 months. He is HILARIOUS and he does the best general authority impersonations I have ever heard! Even Pres. McCune was laughing and everyone kept looking at our table as if we were crazy, but we were really having the most fun!
    Then on Thursday, I went on exchanges with the STL's and my companion for the day was Sis Lopez. I went to her area where they teach in Spanish and it was an adventure. Sis Lopez is crazy!  She is so funny,  silly, and hyper and I had a lot of fun getting to know her and laughing with her a lot. She was so great. She scared me to death at one point because I had to go to the bathroom really bad while she was brushing her teeth so I went really fast and tried to get out fast so she could spit, and when I opened the door she ran at me growling and she looked like the was a rabid animal because she was foaming at the mouth. I screamed and then fell backwards laughing! I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard! Then we were double booked for dinner that night....and that was interesting. I can't speak any Spanish so whenever she was teaching I would sit there and smile and nod like an idiot, and have no clue what was being said...I could pick up a few words and slightly follow the conversations but I couldn't speak it at all... but for dinner because she is Hispanic, she could eat what she wanted and decline any other food she wanted to...but because I'm white I had to eat EVERYTHING they served me!!! I about died!! The first dinner was HUGE!  And then I had to eat again at the next one.I've never ever been so full....Sis Lopez thought it was funny. 
    Then the next morning we woke up earlier than usual and went to one of the stake centers and did a hip-hop/kick-boxing workout with their district (kind of like Zumba) and it was super fun and such a good work out! Elder Harpol was there, and I can I just say it's really hard to work out when you're laughing hysterically with Sis Child as Elder Harpol chants "Work it! Work it girls! Punch! Punch!"  Oh it was a good day.
    So the fireside this week I'm not singing at but that's because we had a bit of a mix up with the guy who was helping us organize it. We have a ward mission leader who works for the church with online missionary work through social media. He has all these great programs and ways to be a missionary online and all these statistics on how we can clean out the internet from negative church info. We got to go to the big office and talk to him and others who are working on it and we got to be the companionship to introduce it to Pres. McCune. It is so AMAZING! We really wanted him to do a training at our fireside but the stake kind of freaked out that we missionaries wouldn't be talking enough so we're trying to still sort it all out. If you want to help out with missionary work, an easy way is to go to ldsshare.net and it teaches you how! It's a great idea for mutual and they teach you how to teach others to do it too. They have a bunch of programs! Look into it! Some other sites that answer questions that nonmembers have are askgramps.org and mormonchallenges.org and lightplanet.com/missionaries. They are great sites!
     This Sunday we spoke in two wards, and as always we were pleading with them to do member missionary work. (NOTE: READ ELDER BALLARD'S TALK FROM THIS LAST GENERAL CONFERENCE AND TAKE THE CHALLENGE!!!!) After the sacrament meeting a 22ish year old girl came up to me and was really excited and was like "Are you Lenise Volmer from Washington???? Was your dad Bishop Volmer from back home??" and I said, "Yes.,.?" and she said "You probably don't remember me, but I was Sis. Call, and I served in your ward for the last 6 weeks of my mission. I was companions with Sis. Crandell." She told me about how she had texted Sis Crandell when I got up to speak and they both flipped out and then she made me give her my number and they are taking us out to lunch sometime this week...it is such a small world...especially here in Utah!!!  I was really excited! I loved Sis Crandell, she was one of my favorites and I loved going on splits with her!
      Also, you will never guess who I met!!! In the ward I was speaking in, I met the mother of the five brothers who make KID HISTORY!!!  We talked to her for a long time and laughed a lot and she showed us a magazine with her sons on the front! She said we should have dinner at her house and I could meet them! I hope we get to! I was a little star struck and she thought it was so funny that I could quote Kid History. 
      We got a few new investigators this week, one of them being a little sweetheart named Grace who is 10, and her dad is coming back into activity. We are still working on Bryan from Ghana, so if you could pray for him, that'd be great. He loves the church organization and how faithful we are, and he's on date for baptism, but he's struggling on a testimony of the Book of Mormon. There is this hilarious couple here, who is less active and we are reactivating them, but you wouldn't believe their story. The guy, (Weston) served a mission and then when he got home he got into World of Warcraft online and was pretty addicted. While online he met Seraphina from Florida and started talking to her about the gospel over world of Warcraft!!!!  She was converted and then moved to Utah and they got married!!!! Bhahaha! I love it! I laughed so hard when they told me their story! It was great. But Seraphina's brother just visited here and he's super interested in learning about religion right now, so we are in contact with him. The work is beginning to pick up a bit, and I really really love it here. It's gorgeous and I'm going to be really sad when I leave. The church is so true and I love serving these people. I heard about mom's missionary moment on Facebook and I'm so proud! Keep it up all of you! I mean everyone! All my siblings, my parents, my friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, anyone who reads this, please understand the importance of missionary work. It changes lives, it heals, and it means everlasting happiness. I can't keep this to myself, and neither should you. I love you all so much and miss you all! I wish I had more time to write because I feel like there is still so much to tell you! The light of the gospel is penetrating, far reaching, eternal and true. Spread it please!
      Off to start another hectic week! I love you! I love you all!
Thanks for being amazing examples and so supportive!

Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer

p.s. I love the letters and cards! I wish I had time to write you all back so bad! It makes me sad I can't! I'll try....Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Mom’s note: I got a Facebook post from a Relief Society President in one of the wards where Lenise serves.  She said Lenise is happy and doing well.  The fireside they were in charge of was very successful and had 300+ youth come to hear her and her companion speak, and the spirit was strong.  Cool huh?