This week will be my first time at girls camp.

Hola Amigos!

This week will be my first time at girls camp.

That's right.

Missionaries can go if they are cool like we are.

Girls camp is like church camp for girls ages 12-18 and young women
leaders. I don't know much about it to be honest. I haven't been
before!

We have four nonmembers with us and one less active member from our
Mesa grande ward, and we will be staying with the ward in the cabins.
The camp ground is up near the mountains, making it about 20 degrees
cooler than the valley. Also, it's raining. That makes it like another
10 degrees cooler. With that math, it's about 80 degrees... It feels
cooler than that, but I am used to 110-120 degrees.

So, this week, my schedule is girls camp from Monday through Thursday
afternoon. While the girls are doing things missionaries aren't
supposed to do, like canoeing, we are making calls and setting
appointments for later in the week and the following week. We might
even teach a lesson over the phone! We also hope to teach a few
lessons to some of the girls.

We are getting a new mission president on Wednesday this week. We
won't know of any special Fourth of July finding activities or rules
until he comes! We are excited, though.

Last week. Oh man. It has been so hot the past two weeks.

We had several lessons set up with people, but many of the set lessons
fell through. HOWEVER. I am super grateful for planning. We had
lessons with backups and people we just felt needed us to stop by. I
know that when we are obedient (WHEN WE PLAN BACKUPS AND OTHER THINGS
LIKE WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO) we are blessed. Others are also blessed by
our efforts to preach the gospel.

I don't have loads of time! To those I normally send individual
emails: I'll try to email you next week!

Hasta Luego!

Hermana Valentine



_____________________________________________________________

For those that aren't sure what Laney is talking about with planning out their day - this video takes a small snapshot of what that means. Missionaries try to be intentional that each hour they spend is working towards bringing someone closer to Christ (even after someone has cancelled an appointment with you)

 - Christal

Yesterday it was 121

Hola Amigos!

Confession: My companion typed out our bedbug story last week. I am glad to say that we still don't have bedbugs! Unfortunately, our apartment isn't as clean as it was last week, but we will clean today.

We went to the Mesa temple last week! I love the sweet feelings of love from Heavenly Father that we can feel simple by having a sincere desire to go to the temple. those same feelings are even stronger as we actually go to the temple. We have an elderly lady in our Spanish ward who, for health reasons, isn't able to comfortably leave the house. It's not super likely--but it is still possible--that she will attend the temple soon, but she talks about the blessings of living worthy to have a current temple recommend. They are so real.

Also, yesterday it was 121 and the car said 122. 

Have a nice week!

Hasta Luego!

Hermana Valentine

1. Temple trip with other missionaries and President and Sister Sweeney

2. Lunch after the temple trip! Some missionaries hadn't gone yet, so
we had fancy plastic bibs to prevent the spaghetti from getting
everywhere!

3 Sometimes it's hot here in the valley. Sometimes we use the car to
warm up our cinnamon rolls. Just pop them up on the dash (on a plate,
of course) and the icing melts again

This week we had transfers....and bed bugs

Hola Amigos!

This week we had transfers, but I'm in the same area! Sister Pierson is still my companion, and we even have a car. 

Last Monday night through Thursday night, we had a mini missionary: Sister Johnson! She is leaving for her mission in August to the Chicago area, and she is speaking Spanish. It was neat to have her along with us. She stayed with us in our apartment, followed the missionary schedule (including..everything), taught a few lessons, and prayed in Spanish with us at a few members' homes! 

We found a great family to teach! The dad said he is member but hasn't been to church since he was little, and his children are super interested in coming. We called our ward mission leader (the member in our congregation who coordinates things for us...I think it makes sense described that way...) and asked him if who would be able to take the kids to a youth activity that night. He called around and called us back. That side of the road is out of our ward's boundaries. Ha, they are still excited, though! We sent their info to the Elders in that area. I'm still glad they have a desire to learn more.

 

Oh! Speaking of being productive...this weekend, while we were working on our weekly planning, I saw a small, light brownish flat bug on me...and then jump onto the couch. I immediately thought...Bed Bugs! I've never seen one before, but we called some other missionaries and their description tends to match what I saw (more or less), so we commenced with the bed bug detox. What's cool is we weren't worried or concerned...no one in the apartment had gotten bit, so if it was bedbugs, they weren't eating us, which is really nice of them. We started sweeping, vacuuming, throwing what we could in the washer/dryer, and spraying the whole house thoroughly with permethrin. We contacted Sister Sweeney...she told us to contact Elder Dale, our housing coordinator. We gave him a description of the bug...and he said it definitely was not a bed bug. So our house is SUPER clean now.

Those are my stories for the week.

Hasta Luego,

Hermana Valentine

 

 

Obedience brings blessings

Laney tried to include a video but her link didn't work. I will try to get it from her next week. 

-Christal 

Hola Amigos!

As usual, I saved this email for last.

I want you to know that obedience brings blessings and exact obedience
brings miracles. I know that miracles still happen, that Heavenly
Father loves us, and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I'm grateful for
this opportunity I have to teach others about the unconditional love
God has for us and the freedom from pains, sorrows, and sins we can
have as we choose to truly follow Christ and keep the commandments.

Also, it's really hot in Arizona.


1. Me, Sister Zabariza, Sister Peterson at a meeting!

2. Sometimes we are cool when we work out. (Sister Pierson is in this one.)

3. Sometimes we go to the Mesa Arizona temple visitors center and then
take a picture in front of the temple. (Cool member that came to a
lesson + cool person we are teaching + me)

Hasta Luego,
Hermana Valentine