A mission full of adventures!

9-8-14

Dear Family! 
Alrighty! So! This week was a super fun one! Lot of adventures!

"Should I go in or out?"  Adventures of caves!

     Monday we took our whole district up to Pole Creek for P-day. We had a blast! The elders in our District are Elder Quezada, Elder Taylor,  Elder Rivera,  Elder Elliot! And they are the silliest bunch of elders EVER. They are the funniest people to talk to and I've loved getting to know them all! Our district is super close and we have a lot of fun! We tried to go into pole creek cave like I did with Sis Nomo, but because it has been raining so much lately it was flooded, so we could only make it down into the mouth and entry of the cave, but the rest was waist deep...so that put a ‘damper’ on things, but it was still fun. We also went to the Sinks where there is a waterfall and cave/tunnel thing and took fun pictures. We then "juiced" which Elder Quezada introduced to us...it's pretty much just hiking somewhere and drinking juice at the top in lawn chairs...so we did that.  Dusty always makes things interesting. We had a girl name K with us, and he was asking Dusty if he ever hunted and he said "No I don't hunt, I kill..." in a really creepy voice. We all laughed and she said "Then what do you kill?" and he said "Things that need to be dead...." haha oh gosh...  Afterwards we went and had BBQ at Dusty's with Elder Quezada and Elder Taylor, because the other elders had a lesson. We had a very lengthy discussion on the magical-ness of bacon (silly elders).

Looks like Lenise got her Volmer Reunion t-shirt!

    We've been working this week with a 9 year old girl named J who is getting baptized the 20th. She is super cute and such a tomboy! She seriously is the only girl in all the Uintah basin on the little league football team...yep. She rocks. But she won't cut her hair so it is super long and her favorite color is still pink....haha I wish she was a few years older so we could marry her off to Carl! Her mom is a less active and is coming back to church and she is great! We love her to death too! She is so sweet and we got to go to church, relief society, and primary with them yesterday! It was great! 
    Wednesday morning we went to Randalette to do some service with Elder Rivera and Elder Elliot and the zone leaders. We got there late because of cleaning inspections and so Sis McMurray and I got to lunge the Elder's land lady's horses. I got to brush their mains and comb them and then Sis McMurray (Who owns 8 horses of her own) taught me how to lunge the horses. (It's where you stand in the middle holding the lead rope and a switch while they trot around you in a circle.)
     Thursday was zone conference, which is pretty much a 7 hour long meeting with President McCune....They are always so spiritually uplifting and inspiring and fun! But they can also be overwhelming....It was a really long one, but I felt uplifted. There are a lot of changes I need to make. I'm nowhere near perfect and work on my weaknesses every day. That's one thing about being a missionary...your weaknesses become a lot more obvious to you...But we had a really awkward discussion at lunch during zone conference with Elder Christofferson.....while President McCune and his wife were sitting at our table…. Elder Christofferson started comparing girls to horses (a result of our service on Wednesday) I don't know about you, but I don't exactly appreciate being compared to a horse....but he had some good comparisons I have to admit....You should have seen Pres. McCune’s face. haha
    Friday night we went to a camp out (just for the evening) in Dusty's ward. We rode up to the campground with K (we got to wear JEANS!!!! YES!) on this really bumpy road and had a blast with the ward eating and playing games with the kids and getting to know the members better. It felt good to be out in nature and to interact with everyone. One of the families brought a bull whip and was cracking it. We asked if we could do it too and they taught us how! I was really excited because I remember Grandpa Merkley always cracking his bull whip and I remember trying but never being able to! It was super cool to be able to actually do it! I was pretty sad when I found out Grandpa was taken to Guardian Angel...but after all that grandma and mom have told me, I think it is probably for the best. I pray for him every night. I know that even though he won't have any idea who I am when I get home, that his spirit is still in there and someday I will have my swing-dancing, Butterfinger loving, black sock wearing, tongue-sticking-out grandpa back someday. I am eternally grateful for the plan of salvation, the promise of eternal families, and the resurrection. Let him know I love him!
        Sunday we had all of our investigators on date for baptism make it to church. YES!!!!!!! It was awesome! We got a lot of teaching done and had another BBQ with Dusty for his birthday because dinner fell through...again. I got eaten alive by mosquitoes though...But I heard if you get a spoon and make it hot by running it under hot water, then put it on the bite it's supposed to make it go away. 
   So this week was AWESOME! Loved it and had so much fun! We've been doing really good at reaching our goals and have been finding new people to teach which is awesome!
    I love you all so much and I am so thankful for your letters and testimonies! I've loved getting to see videos of Hannah and Baby Davey this last week from mom! I hope all is going well and everyone is safe and healthy! Thanks for keeping me updated on what's going on with AJ too. We still pray for him every day.
    Miss you and love you all to the moon and back!
Love,


Sister Lenise Diane Volmer