Christmas in Davis County

Kaysville Zone Sister's breakfast

Davis County Christmas Probs:

-Dribbled Lindor Chocolate filling on my new scarf
-Not enough time in the day to go to all these Christmas invitations!
-Asking members we live with to use their spare storage closet to store all of the misc Christmas gifts and stuffed animals
-SOCKS galore!
-How on earth will I bring all these non-mission-appropriate shoes home with me? Call in the U-haul guys
-Cookie crumbs in my scriptures

Christmas Eve we met with lots of members and delivered candy to a big list of people:
Me: Well, this is kinda fun!
Sister Costa:  Well, this is kinda COLD, sister!
HAHAHA

So grateful for this Christmas and the kindess of all the members and people we are teaching who invited us over. I was worried we wouldn't have enough to do, but like always, the Lord provides a way! Last Christmas I was an emotional wreck... and this year I was just so happy. Yay for emotional control and maturity!

REVELATION: God allows His sister missionaries to gain weight so boys aren't attracted to them. It's a blessing in disguise.

REALIZATION: the many roles of sister missionaries:
-Teacher
-Nagging mother
-Scheduler and day planner
-English tutor
-Relationship counselor
-Match maker
-Psychologist/shrink
-Drama control
-Parole officer/substance confiscator
-Event planner
-Housing coordinator
-Friendship assigner
-Ride coordinator
-Landscape specialist and gardener
-Expert family home evening planner
-Financial aid
-Detective, personal investigator
-Stalker
-Backup Sacrament meeting speaker/Primary teacher
-Professional thank-you-card maker
-Baptism font filler
-Building scheduler
-Hard-wood floor refinisher
-Dish washer
-Cook
-Maid
-Professional chocolate chip cookie baker

Yes, I've really done all of these things at one point or another.

Also realized... If only these people that we teach and help come into the gospel realized all the work that other people put into them and how much people love them. Do they know how many hours we spend on the phone asking members in the ward to sit by them, and introduce themselves to them, and give them rides to things? Do they know how much groundwork we put into them before we knock on their door? Do they know we spent all morning preparing this lesson for them? No! Haha, they have no idea! They think this all just happens overnight. It's way more than that, though! No joke. I feel blessed to have been on my mission this long and to have learned how to recognize the Spirit so I know what to say to people and when to testify, or just be friendly or just say hi, or when to be persistent ... that's a hard thing to learn!

The gospel is such a blessing and I wish everyone was ready to receive it but I've also learned it doesn't mean anything unless they want it. Forcing someone and pushing someone doesn't mean anything, but helping someone feel the Spirit and letting them know how they can feel more makes a big difference!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

xoxo
Sister Shields

Christmas clothes and shoes from members - spoiled much?

Christmas hair and skin products

mErRy cHrIsTmAs- welcome back to Davis County where missionaries get fed like horses‏

Family & friends -

So I'm in Fruit Heights and Kaysville. I'm really sad to not be in YSA ... but you know what? This is good. Everything happens for a reason so here I am. 

My companion is so sweet. She has her MASTERS degree in genetics ..... needless to say I feel stupid when people ask her what she studies and then they ask me and I say, "I have my cosmetologist license ..." She's from Brazil and speaks poco English. (yes I know poco is Spanish not Portuguese and they speak Portuguese in Brazil ...) but she's so cute and sweet. We're working on her English - she really struggles with "th's." She will mutter under her breath "wiTH.... fourTH....wiTH... wiTH..." jajaj she's cute. Sorry I'll stop trying to be Hispanic now. I don't know what's up with my last 2 companions being foreign but I think it's actually hurting my ability to speak English ... 

It's been a little tricky to 2nd transfer train her when she's used to doing everything differently. The sister here before me- Sister Stanford- just went home. She was a really good sister and we got along really well. And everyone still thinks I'm her, which means we look similar, which is cool because she was cute ... anyways, she left a VERY detailed - CUTE planner for me ... but she still did some things pretty differently from me so we've had to adjust. It's been kinda tricky ... but I'm powering through it!

Davis county and Salt Lake are 100% different.  It's seriously like 2 different missions. I feel like I'm back in Bountiful where there's literally 7 nonmembers and 10 less-actives in each ward. I forgot how that is ... it's been kinda hard for me to switch my mind back. Okay we need a new investigator - we can't go street contacting, we can't just go knock on a nonmember's door ... instead it's like detective work.  Call the Relief Society president, find their friends, talk to their neighbors, spend an hour on the phone.  I honestly struggled the first few days because I feel like I'm not being a good missionary. We sit in the apartment a lot and just organize maps and make phone calls ... but I guess this is how missionary work is in Davis County and I need to accept that!  Weird though .... I do miss SLC YSA, but this is good too.  The good news is, the members are super nice here. we have 50 offers for Christmas! And we are going to try and not have 4 dinners like last year and Thanksgiving ... but when we have to fill all of Christmas Eve and day with member appointments ... that's hard because everyone wants to feed you. I'm bracing myself now ... I almost took a picture of our collection of baked goods and chocolate people have given us but I wanted to save you from puking. I need to throw more of it out.

I love being a missionary. I like training and being able to help my companion. I honestly just want to help her ... we've been doing a ton of role plays and brainstorming new ideas. It's like being an STL but just working with one sister ... full time, haha. I'm so grateful for all the skills and things I've learned so far on the mission because I really feel them being applied. I know how to be happy now even though I could and probably should be stressed. I just feel like I've learned so much and I don't want to lose it!  Some things I know I have already lost just from leaving Sister Tranchina, the saint - my planning, organizing, exact obedience ... but I decided I can't spring all that on my comp right away so we're starting small and working up.

Hope everyone has a good Christmas and really remembers what a gift the Savior is in our lives. I've been thinking a lot ... what would my life be like without the Savior? ask yourself that question!  I'd be a mess. One way to accept and apply that gift is to learn and study more about Him in the scriptures. I've been reading the New Testament and I love it ... Also- what's the difference between happiness and joy?  Everyone can be happy. People making mistakes in life can be happy. But joy actually lasts! And that can only come through the gospel. J-Jesus O-others Y-yourself. That's the order to really be happy!

Merry Christmas. thank you for your cards and packages and gifts.  Mom- loved the 12 days of Christmas. Dad- LOVED the watch ... sorry i opened it early. Seriously that made me so happy I almost cried because I felt like I didn't deserve it ... Robyn and Anna- thank you for your drawings - rob's picture of the resurrection made me tear up, hahah!

See you on Skype Thursday at 10:30!

xoxoxoox

Heidi

STL release and kicked out of YSA (AKA end of Sister Shields' life)

 

Liberty zone t-shirts!

Don't have time to write much...
Basically, I found out Sunday that I was being released as an STL. I started crying... I knew it was coming soon but I did NOT want to be released. I was really upset. Then I found out I was leaving YSA ... again, a mess. Then I realized, I was being prideful. I didn't want to be a "regular" missionary. I like authority. I like feeling like a favorite. I'm a terrible person! So I got humbled real quick and got over everyone saying, "you got released as an STL?! Why?!" I know the Lord knows best. I feel very blessed to have served in YSA. I LOVE YSA. I loved being with Sister Tranchina and learning so much from her. I am going to the Fruit Heights Stake in the Kaysville Zone with a sister from Brazil who's been out 6 weeks. I am finishing her training, which at first I was also upset about because I was thinking how it will be so hard because I want to train her the way I like things done ... again, pride. I'm over it. She's super sweet and I am ... excited. Right? Yes. So sad to leave YSA ... but at the same time, Christmas in YSA was going to be rough - everyone was going home, haha. I am sad not to be an STL ... I really love helping the sisters. I don't know what I'm going to do, just worrying about myself and my companion. This transfer was inspired ... If I stayed in YSA til I went home, I would get too comfortable and probably be tempted to pick future prospects and flirt. And that's no good. And if I stayed an STL til the end of my mission, I would go from serving and worrying about 10 sisters plus myself, plus an area and a companion, to worrying and caring only about myself when I go home. I've heard it's hard to go home and worry just about yourself as it is. So I think this will be a good transition.

Also this week ... we have this member I love to death named Emma (that's not her real name - I changed it for confidentiality). She got back from a mission a couple of months ago and she's so awesome. She's always wanting to feed us or come help teach with us, etc. She is so much like me - I love it. This week she called us and asked if we could come over and just teach her a lesson; that she was struggling this time. I didn't know what to teach her ... normally I would do something on self worth, but I felt like she needed the Restoration. We went and read a little bit of JSH. I asked her something like, how did teaching this to investigators help strengthen your own testimony? She basically answered and said she didn't believe Joseph Smith was a prophet and doesn't believe in the Book of Mormon anymore. Sister Tranchina and I were SHOCKED. Like, we didn't even know what to do or say.... then she went on and on about women and the priesthood and Joseph Smith's wives, etc. - it was a mess. She asked if we could come teach her the lessons and help her feel the spirit. We accepted. All week we worried about her. If Emma can fall into that after her mission... I definitely could too. That scared her. A couple days later she texted and said we don't have to come over anymore; she's doing soul searching on her own and is going to "take a break" from church. Seriously, I panicked. I worried about her every day this week! Last night after I found out I was getting transferred, she asked us to come over so she could say goodbye. She basically said her friend invited her to church, she went and all her concerns went away. She said she still has unanswered questions but they don't matter anymore because she remembered it's true. She admitted she'd been reading anti literature and drinking coffee, haha - no good! It was really stressful ... but a blessing that she was able to figure it out and tell me before I left and worried forever about her.

The end.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
-Heidi

Some less-active YSA's we're working with

More less active YSA's we're working with

sisters in the Liberty Zone

Riding our bikes in Rose Park - aren't we cute?

Zone activity

This week I learned that Hostess cupcakes are made with BEEF FAT!

If you don't believe me ... look at the ingredients. Doing that was the biggest mistake of my life.

So we are coming down to the end of the transfer... and it's kind of sad because I have a feeling it will be my last transfer as an STL. And I love being an STL.... I don't feel like I'm the best missionary or the most qualified or anything... but I'm grateful for the opportunity. I think the sisters are scared of me though ... they always say stuff like, "is this ok?”  “Sorry, I didn't know...”, “Am I doing this right?”  “When did you learn this?"  Blek.

So we're in the Liberty Zone ... smack dab in the middle of SLC.  And for some reason .... our zone is the lowest baptizing and one of the lowest for street contacting people. That's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. So we've been working with the sisters on exchanges to help them learn to talk to more people ... they make fun of me because we talk to literally everyone. After the mission pretty sure I'm going to be a creeper because it's what I'm used to doing. But the efforts paid off! The sisters went from 5 street contacts a week to 25! WOO! Wait- did I actually do something right?

This time of year is wonderful. Especially serving in the city right on temple square. PS Amanda May goes home WEDNESDAY. Weird. Temple Square is wonderful and for anyone close to SLC, come and see the new Christmas display pictures in the North visitor’s center. There are these huge blown up pictures of the nativity.  And that visitor’s center ... like literally just walking through it, the spirit is so strong. We're trying to bring all of our investigators there. Oh wait ... we have no investigators - they're all baptized!  That's our struggle right now - finding. The Christmas season is wonderful ... except in YSA because EVERYONE goes home for Christmas. What are we going to do? I have no idea. We're trying literally everything ... and we were thinking - what can we possibly do to be more consecrated? I've been working to improve my daydreaming about clothes and shoes and how I'm going to decorate my house ... I don't stress about weight gain and how I wish I was in shape ... I don't flirt with anyone. I don't think about flirting with anyone. We're exactly obedient to the morning schedule. Like, what else can I do? Haha, my first instinct was  to give up emails ... but that's not realistic. So we decided to work 1 extra hour on P-day. I NEVER thought I would want to do that.... never!  But I honestly really do. What's wrong with me? Weird...... okay I'm done. Have a good week everyone!

With Katja at Temple Square

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let me tell you some stories of this week ...  first of all, I have about 100 days left on my mission. And that's scary! And weird.

The church is starting this new Christmas initiative called "He is the Gift." If you haven't seen the video on christmas.mormon.org or youtube... go look it up! It is so good. We had a mission meeting kicking it off and talking about how we can use this as effectively as possible. The church made special pass along cards that are included in this month's Ensign and as missionaries, we have to give out 10 a day. Which means we need to talk to 10 people a day. That's a piece of cake for me and Sister Tranchina .... we contact like crazy. Here's the cool  thing though - normally when we contact people, they are not interested at all, but even for people who aren't interested, so far no one has turned down the invitation to watch the video online. It's a powerful, short video all about how to apply Christ this Christmas. I think a lot of the time, if Christ is remembered at all, it's just about his birth. Okay, that's great- but then what? The Atonement was the real gift and we need to use that!  Anyways it's cool.  Mom, if you could post it to my FB that'd be great.

This week I lost my planner... and I thought it was the end of the world! Seriously my whole brain is in there. I felt like mom. It was kind of pathetic what an emotional wreck I was. But at the same time it made me feel good because it was really similar to the emotional meltdown I had in 12th grade when I dried cuticle oil on my new Steve Madden leather boots at EVIT.... so that means I'm maturing and prioritizing life- right? Hopefully. Anyways, it was lost around 2 pm and we couldn't find it on the street anywhere. I panicked because that night we had an appointment with someone who mysteriously called us and said we gave them a pass along card on the street and they'd been thinking about it and decided they want to learn more (that NEVER happens), so I wrote down her address and phone number in my planner. Sister Tranchina didn't write it down  so we had no idea where she lived or how to get a hold of her. I was trying not to panic about it all day but I kind of was. We were saying a prayer with the guy we had dinner with and right after we said Amen, Sister Tranchina turns to me and goes, "1756 N 900 W apartment 302!" ....What? Hahaha - and she repeated it over and over again under her breath and wrote it down. I was still confused. Then when we walked out she said that's where this girl lived. I was blown away, haha - like I wish I was that in tune with the spirit to be able to receive exact inspired addresses! We went to that address for the appointment ... and that wasn't her... HAHA false revelation. But, I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. We talked to a few people outside of the address we went to. Maybe we helped one of them? We ended up finding her address, taught her and it was great. She's prepared. But ... she has 2 kids ... and she's 18. Now when we contact people, we have to ask "how old are you? Are you married? Do you have kids?" because in ghetto Rose Park ... just age and no wedding ring doesn't cut it, haha. Our ward mission leader was joking about that and said, "I tried to contact a guy on the street and he was interested in meeting with you and then I asked those 3 questions ... then he got creeped out and walked away. Then I realized he probably thinks I'm hitting on him ..." HAHAHA!

Remember last week how I said we met that girl at a dinner who was a dancer for Ballet West and she's a member but so not interested and didn't have the spirit with her at all and we didn't know how to handle it because she wouldn't take anything we said seriously? Well this week we got a text from Stevey (friend who invited her over for dinner) and he said she called him late at night and was a complete mess ... she went over to his house and said she knows she's not happy and wants to come back to church and be a mom one day. I was in shock because I never ever would have guessed she would do something like that ... goes to show the Lord prepares people we least expect and worldly happiness isn't fulfilling enough for people.

Thanksgiving: President and Sister Hansen had us over for an early dinner. We helped them decorate the Christmas tree and had a wonderful meal. It was just the assistants and another set of sisters there but it was fun! We made pumpkin pie and these really good pistachio cream bars. I'm sending the recipe in a letter today to Daddy. Our P-day was moved to that day, but P-day ends at 6, so ... we had to find evening appointments. It was hard, but we found people to visit. And they ALL fed us. I thought I was going to die ... seriously SO STUFFED. It brought back terrible memories of last holidays. We don't purposely schedule 3 dinners; we're just desperate for appointments! Then they feed us because what else do you do on Thanksgiving? It was fun though.

Craig was baptized Saturday. Let me tell you about Craig in case you forgot. I might have mentioned him a long time ago. When I first got in the area, we were teaching Craig. He's 24, he's had a really rough past ... his parents kind of abandoned him and he's been in and out of foster care. I was convinced he was on some hard core drugs because his house was weird and creepy and he said weird things and would text us inappropriate stuff. He would keep all of his commitments but wasn't progressing at all. I also thought he had some kind of social disorder; Asperger's or something. We would be in the middle of a lesson and he'd be staring at me and say something like, "you look like a girl I used to smoke with. Did I smoke with you before?" Uh....  and in prayers he'd pray for "LOTS OF MONEY AND HOT GIRLS"- like just super inappropriate... and it was frustrating! Then he moved into the AP's ward. We did a hand off lesson and it was so bad ... I was so embarrassed and kind of felt like, okay sorry... here is an investigator who has no desire to progress and is never going to get baptized. Well, that was a month ago. Those elders taught him SO MUCH. He is a completely different person. All he really needed was love. Elder Patton and Tapia (AP's) really just love him and want to help him. They taught him how to be respectful to girls and helped him feel the spirit. His baptism was the coolest I've ever been to. He asked me to give a talk and I had no idea what to say; I could go up there and be honest and say, "well when I think of Craig I think of me trying to be his mother and getting him to behave and trying to get out of him what kind of drugs he's on, and him hitting on me and saying inappropriate things that my foreign comp didn't understand so she'd smile and nod ...." but I didn't, haha. He's seriously changed so much. The Lord prepares people. And I have SO much love for Craig ... he's hilarious. After his baptism I shook his hand and he said, "well what now... can I leave now?" Haha - I can't describe him ... he's like Napoleon Dynamite. Those elders worked a miracle. And now Craig wants to go to BYUI with me and Elder Tapia ... weird. I guess we’d be best friends.

My favorite line from Craig though was when he said he was moving; I asked why.
Craig: "Because my neighbor saw me naked. Would you want to live somewhere where your neighbor saw you naked?"
Me: "well, why were you naked?"
Craig: "Is that your car? It's ugly."

Hmmm, what else?  That's all I can think of right now. I love Craig. I love seeing miracles.

Heidi

Thanksgiving at President & Sister Hansen's

Elder Patton (left) and Craig

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brrrrrrr!  Too cold!

Family-

We got to go to the temple with Katja to watch her do baptisms for the dead. Such a cool experience! She was so excited and loved every minute of it. We went with her friends in the ward and our ward mission leader came and baptized them all. It was so neat and I just kept thinking how cool it was that I played a part in helping her make it there and help all of those other people receive salvation ... like a domino affect! Katja's so solid and the gospel makes her so happy.

I don't know if I told you about James ... He's an enternigator. That means he's investigated the church forever and won't commit to be baptized. That doesn't happen very often in YSA! He's been on date like 10 times. We had him on date for this coming Saturday and were trying to exercise faith by planning it all and not really giving him the chance to back out. His concern is that he wants a solid testimony first. He knows it's all true but wants a testimony of a  member that's rock solid. We asked if we could announce his baptism at church on Sunday ... and that's when he backed out, haha. He's like, famous in the YSA stake here. The only eternigator! He makes me really frustrated to be honest .... speaking of frustrated, I think a couple months ago I told you about the guy we were teaching who was really immature and kinda weird and we had the elders give him a blessing because he had funky spirits in his home ... HE was frustrating. He'd always say these really inappropriate things to us and Sister Tranchina was like, "what does that mean?" She's so sweet and new to American slang ... he was frustrating because he'd keep all of his commitments but wouldn't progress. Well, he moved to the AP's stake and we handed him over .... and he's getting baptized Saturday. I'm SHOCKED. Apparently he just really needed elders to crack the whip. I think he must be bipolar or have some kind of social problem.... he told the AP's "Sister Shields must hate me because she actually got all of the jokes I made." Uh .... yeah. He's the one who asked if I did drugs- remember?

So this week a guy in the Capitol Hill ward named Stevey invited us to a Thanksgiving dinner with all of his friends. He wanted us to come and meet all of his nonmember friends. So we went and it was fun .... but weird. It was a legit college kid party. Half of the University of Utah was there in his huge North Salt Lake mansion of a house, I swear. It was really cool though. I thought people wouldn't want to talk to us but I was able to talk religion with a lot of people. It was really eye opening and I know I'm in YSA to prepare me to do member missionary work when I get home. I'm also flattered he invited us - that means he thinks we have social skills, right?

People keep asking me if I'm excited or sad to go home. I'm not sad; I know I have lots of next missions ahead of me. I have lots of friends to help. Mostly, I'm excited to go to the gym!  I'm kinda scared. The real world is scary! I love having the spirit with me all of the time. What will I do without that? I can tell the difference with girls who I used to be like ... that only care about clothes and hair and stuff. It's weird because I know they would have been really good friends with me a few years ago, but now it's different. What will I do? That's a weird feeling! Who am I? It's just weird. I feel lost. and scared. But I'm excited to go to the gym.


Have a good Thanksgiving! Think of this quote - what if we woke up tomorrow with only the things we thanked God for yesterday?

xoxooxox
Sister Shields

PS - For Thanksgiving, President and Sister Hansen invited all the YSA missionaries to their house. We are doing that in the afternoon and then our ward mission leader's family invited us that night. I have no idea how YSA holidays are but I'm scared to find out. We might not have much work!  Oh, my release date might be moved up to the weekend earlier ... like March 8th or 9th; I'll keep you posted.  Kim Bleak sent me 3 HUGE packages for winter.... tons of leggings, NICE leather snow boots and thick socks and this jewelry. The necklace has all of my areas on it; the bracelet has all my influential baptisms. I'm sure she spent a fortune on all of it ... but I love the bracelet! I wear it everyday and it reminds me I'm a pretty decent missionary sometimes.

Sister Wives

Family & friends -

So we share the Pioneer YSA Stake with the assistants and our zone leaders. Our stake president took us all out to lunch at the Grand America hotel restaurant ... if you've never been there, let me tell you that it feels like The Suite life of Zach and Cody or Titanic or something. So we got to have a nice sit down lunch with the elders and it kind of felt like ... a weird date. I didn't know what to talk about with them..... guess who's lost their social skills? Me!

I went on exchanges with some sisters and got to teach a legit Polygamist family... legit. Like 3 old houses next to each other for each of the wives. The AP's taught and baptized one of the daughters a couple of weeks ago and now her little brother is getting the lessons from the sisters in the family ward. It's the weirdest thing .... I thought Polygamists were like Amish people? But they're not. They're totally normal. The daughters are like, really cute too .... and they have a picture of Joseph Smith huge on their living room wall. Like, this is weird, haha! I know the AP's have been struggling with teaching the other YSA aged daughters ... there's 9 kids from this wife and 3 or 4 are YSA aged daughters. One got baptized and it took forever because for children of polygamy to get baptized, it has to be approved by the first presidency ... crazy. She's so solid though and is getting married in the temple to her boyfriend in a year! Anyways I know the AP's haven't quite gotten the other girls to commit. They asked me to talk to them girl to girl (I don't know what that means - I'm not friendly and good with girls). They are so cute and we talked about hair and clothes and MAC makeup for a while ... then I asked about baptism and she said she doesn't want to live polygamy, but if it's what the Lord wants her to do she needs to do it. Well, I didn't know what to say that- how often do we teach polygamists? I haven't! She was really sincere about it though and honestly just really wants to do what the Lord wants her to do.. I want to go home and watch Sister Wives now. Heck, I should be on Sister Wives. Just kidding. But that was definitely a first.

Katja got baptized Saturday! Her sister who got baptized at BYU and her husband came to town for it. It was wonderful and I've never seen so many boys at a baptism ... there was literally 50 people there and 70% were good looking RM's. She's really cute and recently returned RM's have no shame... hahah. I overheard her brother-in-law saying "first I marry their daughter in the temple, then I baptize their other daughter ... if she gets married at 18 to a member, they're gonna kill me" HAHA! It was an awesome baptism though. Sister Tranchina cried the whole baptism because it was her first baptism where she saw the whole process. It was cool.

Guess who showed up at my singles ward yesterday? Holly Bingham! I was so shocked. ... I told her the wards I covered but didn't expect her to come and visit haha - it was so good to see her though- definitely a tender mercy. What a blessing to see her!

So last night we met with those less active RM's I was talking about last week ... we had a really good meeting. They have such strong testimonies. Their apartment smelled like weed ... but they came to church and are really really trying. One of them, Jace, is taking this little 18 year old kid under his wing and helping him get ready to go on a mission. It's really helping both of them! Right after that we went and visited more less active RM's ... but these ones made me sad. They were 200% opposite. We shared a scripture on Christ and asked how trials have strengthened their testimony of the Atonement. They said "I don't know." We asked what the plan of salvation means to them; they said "I don't know." It was so sad - we couldn't get any spirit there at all. I asked if they ever testified of something on their mission and really knew it was true and they said yes. So sad to know that they will be held accountable for that.

That's all I can think of right now....

Have a wonderful week!

Heidi


PS - uplifting letter of the week, from Trichelle:

“Nearly one year ago, Sister Taylor and Sister Johnson started visiting me and helping me reconnect with my Savior. Sister Hornberger, Shields, Callahan and Pearson- you helped finish what was started. Since then, I've lost 90 lbs., started a full time job in Bountiful that I love and in two weeks will move into a house and have all 3 kids full time.

To say you have all made a difference in my life would be such an understatement. You've brought light and love and hope and faith back to my dark and seemingly hopeless world. I love you all. Sister Taylor....I can't find you on FB. Please find me...LOTR marathon must happen!!

I love you all very, very much. Please stay in touch! Also warn the missionaries in the Bountiful North Stake I'm coming. **cue Jaws music**

Love you all,

Trichelle”

Katja's baptism

Why Mormons don't wear bikinis

Family & friends -

Last Monday for FHE one of our wards had a fireside with Larry Gelwix. If you don't know who that is, he's the rugby coach that they based the movie Forever Strong about. I don't remember what happened in that movie... but I remember the boys were quite good looking ... and it was inspiring. He gave an awesome talk about being worthy of personal revelation and how to recognize it. It was awesome. Another thing I liked - he kept saying, "what is the Holy Ghost teaching you right now?" It was a good reminder that any thoughts or feelings we have in the setting of the spirit are promptings of the Holy Ghost. I might start using that in our lessons with investigators!

I'm reading through my old journals from the beginning of my mission ... it's really interesting to see how much I've changed, haha -  and how many rules I was breaking that I either 1) didn't care I was breaking or 2) didn't know I was breaking ... oops. I was feeling really guilty for not being a very good missionary while training new missionaries, and thinking, "had I been obedient and learned to teach lessons by asking questions instead of lecturing, my investigators would have progressed a lot better and the missionaries I was training would have learned a lot more and probably liked their missions more. I decided though, everything happens for a reason! Oh well. Learn and move on.

So we are teaching a girl from Guatemala named Katja .... I might have talked about her before. She's so ready for the gospel and to be baptized - she goes to LDSBC, for goodness sake! She's been on date for awhile but hasn't officially committed 100% for that date because she's still "waiting for her answer" *eye roll* The ward is AWESOME and full of all RM's... not to mention Katja's cute and all these guys literally fight over who gets to come to her lessons ... so last week we had a group fast with her for her answer. She went to a baptism for some elders in our district last week and this week said she just knows it's right! Yay! We were so happy. Our ward mission leaders are so funny ... they are fresh off of their missions and all pumped and stuff. I was on exchanges with a sister from Miramar (I don't know if that's how it's spelled.... it's by Thailand) and after a meeting with a ward mission leader she goes .. "Sister Shields ... what does "sick" mean?" HAHAA our ward mission leader's vocabulary consists of "legit," "sick," "stoked," and "dude." It's so funny.

Side note ... foreign comps are so funny ... we were street contacting a guy the other day and he mentioned he was moving to Oregon ... a few minutes into the conversation Sister Tranchina goes, "so do you play the piano too?" ..... What? Then I realized she thought he said he plays the organ!  Haha I had to stop and explain a little bit ... so precious!

Also this week - we met with a household full of RM boys who are completely inactive. They got back from their missions a few years ago and now are smoking and drinking and what not. It's really sad. It's also tricky in YSA to work with people like that because they know why you're there. We knock on their door and they're like, "are you here to reactivate me?" Uh, yes. Then I asked if they would be willing to come help us teach lessons. They were like,"well okay ... but if you're only asking me so it will count as a "lesson with a member present," then no." Like- only in Utah do you get that response, haha! But anyways ... we had  planned on teaching them about being thankful for blessings or something ... but I decided we needed to help them realize the lack of the spirit in their lives. So we did something I've never done before, and read the First Vision with them, but using the scriptures to talk about the darkness before the vision, you know? Then we asked a bunch of questions like: how have you seen the gospel bringing light into your life? What are some things that bring darkness? How did you come to know Joseph Smith was a prophet? Etc. It was SO good. These boys were kinda punks ... to be honest, they reminded me of my high school friends. They were wearing their hoods up and their snap backs and had Kid Cudi on the wall and stuff ... but they bore the most powerful testimonies ever. It was so cool. Afterwards they texted and said: "Sisters! Thank you so much for bringing those pictures (we brought pictures of Christ and the temple to replace Kid Cudi with, haha) and the Spirit back into our home this evening. It was very much needed, probably more than you even know. See you Sunday. And sorry we didn't offer you any food .... next time!" It was the most rewarding text. Like, these guys were punks. They did NOT want us there to start. But hey- it worked! I love YSA.

Speaking of YSA ... there's only been a total of 6 sisters in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission to serve in YSA so far ... so 3 of us got together and made a “YSA Probs” video about inside jokes and funny things that have happened ... I'll try to email it. Afterwards we watched it and realized how awkward it was!  And I think WE might be the probs in YSA, haha!

Have  good week!
Heidi

PS Oops, I forgot to explain the heading for this email -  this week I was randomly thinking about a time in 1st grade when my friend Kaylee Stokes asked why I didn't wear bikinis ... I said Mormons don't wear bikinis. She asked why and I honestly didn't know why... so I said it was because the 2 piece swimsuits get lost in the wash!  After that she was like, "ohhhh ... that makes so much sense!" And the next day at school she told everyone that Mormons don't wear bikinis because they get lost in the wash, haha!!

Jonathan's baptism. He's from France and took the lessons literally a year ago and was ready to be baptized, then backed out the morning of. Then no one heard from him for a really long time ... he randomly showed up to FHE a month ago and told the EQP he was ready to be baptized! So we started teaching him and there ya go.

This is for Kayla - isn't this a cool door knocker?

Typical SLC house

Transfers, Halloween and an awesome testimony meeting

Transfers - I’m staying in this area with Sister Tranchina - we’re so happy!  President said because I only have 3 transfers left, I'll probably stay in this area the rest of my mission and for my last two transfers I’ll be released as an STL and train.

For Halloween ... we stayed home in the evening and did our weekly planning. We ate Little Caesar’s pizza and made cookies for our sick zone leader. Side note about our zone leaders:  we work really closely with them - President just started doing these meetings once a month with the STL's and ZL's to discuss the needs of the zone... our zone leaders are awesome and so so nice and respectful, but not creepy or flirty at all!  It's awesome. Anyways, President printed out all of these graphs and numbers and stuff and said... "I'm not trying to condemn you... but explain to me how last month there were 17 on date for baptism and only 3 got baptized....." we looked at each other and felt so bad ... but our zone's struggling!  Those 3 baptisms were ours and theirs ... and we're in the heart of SLC where there's tons of people to talk to. It also really impressed me how much President Hansen knows about the missionaries ... I always thought there was so many missionaries; he couldn't know I was struggling or having a hard time with my companion, etc., but he totally did.  He has such a good feel on what's going on in the mission. He does know every missionary and what they need.  It was really cool to see.

I absolutely love this area. This week we had a night where literally all of our appointments cancelled so we went out and walked the streets downtown contacting people and visiting some names in the apartment complexes.  It was so fun and I loved it .... I really feel like I was sent to this mission specifically for THIS area. Literally, downtown SLC- working with the YSA. It's my DREAM! I wanted to go to NYC or something ... but this is better because of the temple and all those resources.  Plus it's so close; I can come back and visit!  Bunny (her Grandma Shields' nickname) wrote me about how she used to teach at West High (I walk past there every single day).  I haven't written her back yet - sorry, but it's coming.  And it made me so happy. I love this area and it's so fun. I'm so so grateful! And I love the city, and even the ghetto.

So we had this idea ... to ask the members that we bring with us to lessons to share their testimonies in sacrament meeting about how their testimony has been strengthened through missionary work, etc. We texted like 15 people. And most of them did it! Testimony meeting was so good yesterday! I had no idea the kind of impact teaching with us has on members... especially YSA. One guy named TJ- we asked him to come with us because he's semi active... he works Sundays and honestly I thought he had no interest in the gospel at all. At the lesson he barely said anything and acted like he didn't want to be there. Then after the lesson we were telling him he should pray to find a new job. He seemed like a punk so we kinda forgot about him ... well he got Sundays off and came yesterday.  He got up and bore his testimony about how he didn't realize how much he missed the gospel until he came to that lesson. He remembered the chapter we read in the Book of Mormon with the investigator that day and said that lesson was for him. He said we told him to pray to get Sundays off, he gave it a shot and it worked! I was in shock, haha. And some other girls got up and said how teaching with us helped them overcome temptation and made them decide to live the Word of Wisdom and stuff ... we didn't even know they had Word of Wisdom issues! It's just so cool how the Spirit plays a role in everything- even the members we randomly text and ask to come with us. It was an awesome testimony meeting!

All is well in Pioneer YSA. Have a good week!

(Heidi didn't explain anything about most of these photos - maybe she'll fill us in later)

The planner on the left is at the end of a transfer .. the one on the right is at the beginning!  Notice the arrows - they represent transfers.  Sisters go to the big gray arrow (I have two to go); elders go through all of them.

We put Superman on date!

This week:
Let me sum it up..... we did a fun zone activity and carved pumpkins. Our zone leaders are really nice and respect the sisters and that's a good thing.

We're teaching this ghetto black guy who's really rough around the edges... his name is Robert but he goes by Superman. I'm not kidding- it's like the name on his mail and everything. He loves the gospel though! He accepted baptism for December 20th. We decided it would have to be pretty far off because he's got a lot to change in his life ... plus he might have some legal problems. He came to church for the first time this week and absolutely 200% loved it.  He was talking to everyone and introducing himself and commenting in class and nodding his head and agreeing to everything- it was so funny. The poor girl who we asked to give him a ride though.... it's hard to get people to church in the wards that meet at the U because it's a decently long trip (like 10 minutes) and a lot of the people we teach don't have cars because they're poor and young and ghetto. The girl we asked to take him was scared to be in the car with just her and him so she brought her boyfriend haha, I don't blame her ... anyways Superman (Robert) loved church! His ward has a bunch of cute girls in it too so that might be it... but afterwards I asked about his baptism date and he said, "Can't we move it up? Like ASAP? I want to be a part of this!" So we'll see how it goes.

Sometimes I wish we had a camera filming us all day for a missionary reality TV show. I want to replay it in 5 years and I know I'd look back and go ... "We ENTERED that house?!" "We taught a house full of meth addicts about the gospel?!" I'm not gonna lie, it's really sketch sometimes! But we're not scared- we have no fear, it's awesome haha. And those are the people that need the gospel the most!  Also it's kinda weird, sometimes dinner appointments feel like dates ... one dinner this week took us to Chuck-A-Rama and it was me and Sister Tranchina and 2 guys... it legit felt like a date. #YSA probs.

This week I've really realized how much the Lord's hand is in everything. The conversations I'll have with my companion about like, "what if this happened" or, "isn't this scripture cool?" later that day we'll meet someone on the street (BTW this week we had 47 street contacts- like people we talked to on the street and got their number or set up a return appointment. That's a LOT. I love the city!) or teach a lesson or something and that same subject will come up. Or I'll have a thought and then it totally prepares me for something later that day. It's really cool how revelation works. I've been thinking a lot about how to help friends at home and less actives we work with ... like, what can I possibly say to make them realize how important this is? I think the main thing is the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost and personal revelation are awesome! In order to have that gift with us, we have to be going to church and repenting. I'm so grateful for personal revelation ... I've never seen that more in my entire life than right now. The Holy Ghost literally has a part in every single little thing we do. Discernment, questions, guidance, truth, memories, scripture study, how to tell if someone's creepy or lying, what to study in school, etc. everything! And it's not with you if you're living the party life \m/.  Example.... this week we taught this 22 year old named Kenny. It was the first lesson so we planned to teach the restoration and commit to baptism like a usual first lesson. He was wearing a hat, and I just kept thinking - I don't think he has any hair... (wait for it- that has a point hahah) but as we were talking to him and I was looking at him..... he was saying how he wishes he knew his purpose in life and why things happen, and what's happening after this life, and how he doesn't know really anything about God or Christ. I realized- 1) he needs the plan of salvation lesson 2) he needs the atonement 3) he has cancer. He didn't say any of those things; he had Wiz Khalifa (rap singer) on the wall for goodness sake... but I could like, feel what he was going through. Sister Tranchina started the restoration and I stopped her and pulled out our plan of salvation pamphlet. We just taught Christ and the atonement and it was awesome and perfect for him. He never said anything about his cancer, but I know that's what was on his mind.  He feels lost and alone and scared. It was probably the coolest lesson I've ever had.  And I love him- he's so precious. and he listens to good music.

Something else funny this week ... we were trying to get to know our investigator better and asking each other questions:

Mario: what's your favorite animal, Sister Shields?
Me: Honestly, I don't really like animals ...
Sister Tranchina: She likes purses!!!
Mario:  Oh ... well, your purse is nice ...
HAHAHA!

That's it.... today for a zone activity we're having a cultural party and eating legit ethnic food because our zone's full of Ukranians and Asians and Europeans and Mexicans. Sweet. Have a good Halloween everyone!


Heidi

Another week in the Pioneer YSA Stake

Welcome to SLC - where people create art with Budweiser bottle caps and chewing gum

Okay, I'm trying to remember what even happened this week....

Spencer got baptized! We were really worried ... he has no family support and they wanted him to push it back another 3 weeks so his great-grandma would be out of the hospital. We knew that wasn't a good idea.... he's already pushed his date back 2 times already. So he stuck with his original date and it happened! Yay!

We had interviews with President. For the first time my whole mission I had no emotional breakdown. No complaints. No concerns. I seriously went in there and was so excited. I said, "President, I figured out why I'm here and how to be happy doing it and I love my mission. It took a year- but I did it!" He laughed, hahah- but really- for the first time I've learned how to really truly consecrate myself, forget about everything else, and focus on being the best missionary I can be. It's weird... but I am so happy.

Craig (our stoner investigator) is moving into the AP's area. So we had them come to one of our lessons to do a trade off. Long story short.... Craig was kind of... possessed? And they gave him a priesthood blessing and then the difference was like night and day. He came to church yesterday - on time and dressed nice, by himself, AND his Book of Mormon in hand. It was a miracle; I almost passed out in shock ... hahah.

Saw Meet the Mormons and CRIED. It was so good!

I love living with other sisters. I love YSA! I love being in SLC where there are so many different people from all over the world. Usually in lessons, I'm the only white, English-speaking person. It's kind of weird haha - everyone's from South America, Europe or Africa ... literally. I wish I knew French or Spanish.

And my worldy insert:
I love serving in the Capitol Hill YSA ward because it's all rich RM's who wear Rolex watches and drive nice cars and are financial planners and rich business owners. Also there are a lot of football players for the U.... it's fun! I don't flirt, but it's fun. I think it's a tender mercy. The end.

Spiritual thoughts:

Ether 6:5: the Lord gave the brother of Jared storms but it ended up being for their good- it brought them to the promised land. I know that's how trials are for us in our life too! Always for our good.

Heidi

Spencer's baptism!

Me and my awesome companion

Carving pumpkins at the YSA ward FHE

Christian made us lunch and gave us flowers!  Hes'a sweetie.  The guy on the floor is the ward mission leader.