I just saw your face!

5-12-14

                      Dear Family,

It's strange...I feel like I just saw you guys...Oh. Wait.  I DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!! haha!

     It was soooooo fun to see you all yesterday! The babies are getting sooooooo big and it was super fun to see Sharee's baby bump! What is strange to me is that the new baby will be almost 8 months old when I get home off my mission....weeiiirrrdd....

The picture we got of her on our big screen
TV was pretty blurry, but this gives you an idea
of how she still feels about her mission. 
SHE LOVES IT!

     I know we talked a lot about random things...and I'm glad you were all able to ask me your questions! It was so fun to see your faces and talk to you. What's weird is I always get nervous before talking to you guys, and then the second I see you and hear your voices, it's like everything snaps back to reality and feels normal, and suddenly the mission feels like a dream. But then when I hung up, it was like waking up from a dream...It was a weird feeling. I always think I'll cry and be sad when I hang up, but I always feel pumped and energized. It's like seeing you guys gives me the energy I need to keep going. All week long I was feeling like I missed you all a lot and just wanted to talk to you, and doing it gave me a boost and I think I can make it until Christmas now! Which feels forever away...But just think, the next time I Skype you it will be the last time until you see me in person! Thanks for all the laughs and stories...I'm still trying to get over how blonde Leisha looked! haha!
     Yesterday was a crazy day. Holidays are the worst for missionary work, as I've told you before! We made mother’s day cards and dropped them off at a bunch of Sisters houses who are super nice to us and take care of us. It was fun to see them all and wish them a happy mother’s day! We went to two wards yesterday and it was so cute to see all the little primary kids sing! I don't know why music affects me the most, but I wanted to just cry the entire time they sang. I was kind of emotional all day because everyone was talking about mothers and eternal families all day and I was just thinking about how I was going to be able to talk to you in a few hours!!!! In one ward they had the laurel presidency speak and they had extra time after so they called on random sisters to bare testimony...yeah and they just happened to call on me...which I totally wasn't expecting...they didn't even call Sis Balero, just me...Sis Balero said it was pay-back for volunteering her to pray the day before... But I was really nervous. So I went up and introduced myself and explained that this mother’s day was my first one away from home. I told them that I didn't realize the divine role of parenthood and mothers until I was separated from mine. I was super emotional because like I said before all I could think about is that I got to talk to you soon and everyone kept asking us when we would get to talk to our families. What was funny was after each ward they handed out chocolate or something, and they insisted that us sister missionaries take some. Every time they said "You'll be mothers soon..." and both Sis Balero and I were like "Uh...."
      On Saturday we didn't have much going on. We got invited to a Steak Fry for one of the wards and our ward mission leader promised that our investigators that we haven't seen in months would be there....they weren't. We had fun talking with D though. D is this hilarious guy we've been working with from when I first got here. He is probably early 30's. He used to be a drug addict and a rocker, but now he is super awesome and going to church and trying to make it to the temple. We are trying our hardest to help him kick his cigarette habit. He is seriously the funniest person I have ever met in my life. He used to have a Mohawk but now he just has a long beard and loves superhero movies and the Hobbit and goes to concerts all the time. He has the funniest sense of humor and Sis Balero and I seriously die laughing every single time we talk with him. We are having dinner at his house tonight before his lesson, and it should be good :) He's making us breakfast for dinner!
     This week was pretty basic. We got canceled on a lot. But we had a fun time. We got to go to mutual at the White Rocks branch and we taught them about missionary work via Missionary Jeopardy. It was a lot of fun and our Ward Mission Leader Bro. Crozier played with us and was SO competitive! We were playing with 12 year old girls! And he was smack talking them and going all out at it! It was hilarious! He's this elderly man and it was funny to see him all fired up. He is really into sports and could probably tell you every single statistic or player in every single sport for the past 50 years... 
      I still love the work to death. Being a missionary is the BEST! The spirit is constantly here and I love living with it as my constant guide. I'm so grateful that families are forever. Especially ours! There is an elder in my zone who is a convert and at the end of this month he gets to go to Salt Lake and get sealed to his family. Remember he was the one that was the only member of his family when he left on his mission and now his family of 7 are being sealed.  COOL!  We sang Families can be together forever at the end of our meeting and he just cried and cried. It was the most touching thing. I can't take it for granted anymore. Some families don't have the promise of forever like we do! And it is one of the most amazing things to watch as they make the idea of an eternal family a reality. I love you all so much and can't wait to hear from you. Thank you so much for all your support and love and all the laughs and smiles. I miss you all so much and can't wait to see you all again. Hoorah for Israel! I love you all to the moon and back!
Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer