Family and Friends,
What a wonderful time I am having in Bountiful. I get voted best dressed at every missionary meeting, don't worry. Kidding - everyone hates me. But seriously, Bountiful is wonderful and I love it ever so much.
Want to hear something funny? We had our interviews with president this week (they do that every 2 transfers) and while one comp is in the interview, the other comp sits and visits with Sister Hansen. So I walk out of my interview with president and overhear the conversation with my trainee and Sister Hansen ... "I just hope you feel comfortable enough to talk to me, President or the AP's if elders are flirting with your companion, because that is a serious problem we worry about ..." "Well, Sister Shields does get like 8 letters a week from all these different elders ..." OKAY NOW, HOLD UP. Sister Shields doesn't flirt with elders, that's disgusting. 1) all of these elders are weird, 2) that's weird, 3) I'm on a mission, 4) I have a boyfriend who's 50 times better than any of these elders, so ... anyways, I talked to my trainee later and she asked if I'd teach her how to flirt (she's never been on a date or anything before). Uhh? If I knew how, I would, Sista. Hahahahh anyways, that was the excitement/drama of the week.
Let me tell you a secret about the mission. 1) you know everything about everyone but have to have thtis constant filter up and be sure you don't slip any info ... but seriously, missionaries basically know everything about you except your social security number, 2) you have to learn to pretend to be interested in stuff you don't care about. I practiced this this past week; we're trying to teach this lady who's a professional quilter ... so we went over to her house and she showed us quilts for TWO HOURS. Now I like sewing, don't get me wrong ... but 2 hours is a long time to look at quilts. My trainee was throwing a fit ... like, shut up, we're going to humor this lady because we need investigators. Then the next day we went to the Relief Society's weekly quilting day because our next "victim" was going ... I thought it was fun, but my trainee literally fell asleep over a quilt. I told her she can either find another prospect on her own, or we're going to keep pursuing this one by taking up quilting! This lady's a work in progress, but I think we'll get her eventually!
We just had a change in our mission for what qualifies as a "lesson" ... if there's not an active member present who doesn't live in the house, it doesn't count as a lesson for our weekly numbers. Even if we're teaching a less active member, we have to have another member there for fellowship. This has been kind of difficult ... But it's really showing me how important it is to work with the members. This past week, we got one of the less actives we've been teaching for 2 months to go to church for the first time. Sister C and I tried seriously everything to get her to come and she finally did! We brought a neighbor to one of her lessons and then had the member come pick her and her kids up and give them a ride to church ... but it worked! I was seriously so happy, finally seeing some results is fantastic. Saturdays are always really hard days to keep busy with ... I don't know why;, but they are. So I had this brilliant idea .. let's go over to a member's house, bake a crap ton of cookies (my specialty), and then make visits to all the people we have issues getting in to see. It worked like a charm, we got into 5 houses that night, then yesterday (Sunday) we got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. It turned out tot be one of the people we've been trying to teach who we delivered cookies to, the Perry's. She said thanks for the cookies and also that her downs syndrome son just enrolled in seminary (they're not members, he just has a lot of friends who invited him so he's taking it for the social aspect) and she wants us to teach him te basics about God and Jesus so he's not totally lost in class. She also said her daughter wants us to come over and teacher her how to make that cookie recipe! Seriously, I don't know if you guys understand what a miracle that was ... we give our number to 20+ people a week and NO ONE ever calls us ... then we get this phone call out of the blue and they basically asked us to start teaching them. It was crazy! My trainee probably thinks that's going to happen all the time .. but seriously, it was fantastic.
It's fun living with the family we do because we get to hang out with Holly (30-year-old daughter who does hair) all the time. I feel like she's my Lauren replacement, it's awesome. I got to help her throw a birthday party for her 2-year-old son on Saturday and it was so fun. We go shopping on P-days, she takes us out to lunch, she gives me life advice, I give her boy advice ... I just love her. I got to cut her hair the other night and was able to help her with some of the doubts she's been having about the church. But we're keeping busy and always working; we're teaching lots of lessons and doing lots of service. I love training; I hope I get to train in Bountiful for the rest of my mission!
Claire, comic relief sounds like it was awesome, good for you! Dad, congrats on your marathon! That's seriously awesome, that's really impressive. When are you going to Boston? The temple dedication should be fun, let me know how it goes, and thanks so much for getting Jamison something for his birthday he'll love that - seriously. Kayla, congrats on getting asked to the dance!
Have a great week, love you all!
Heidi
Monday, January 27, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
I LOVE being a trainer!
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| My trainee, Sister Hyden, me, and my trainer, Sister Hornberger |
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| Reunion with Sister Hornberger! |
Good to hear everyone's doing well. Daddy, good luck with your race. Mother, sorry you're so busy with the temple celebration, but that's awesome. Kayla, i met with a family the other day whose daughter danced with Ballet West for a couple years. I told her how you told me I should baptize some of the dancers while I'm here and she said "GOOD LUCK with that!" Haha sorry to crush your hopes and dreams. Tell Garrett and Karli I said congrats! Tara sent me a picture and she's so cute.
So this was the first week with my trainee and it flew by! I love being a trainer, I think this was the best week of my whole mission so far. I was so badly for her to learn to love the mission as much as I have learned to. It took me 3 months to get to that point ... but now I love it. I was so worried that work would slow down and I would be struggling to find stuff to do to keep us busy, but Heavenly Father has blessed us with a packed schedule every day so far! My comp probably hates me because i schedule appointments literally every hour of the day, make her talk in lessons and I force her to get up at 6:20 so I can get in my full exercise time ... she hates morning exercise; she hates most things about missionary life, actually hahahh. It's kinda hard because I know she doesn't want to be here ... first off, she doesn't want to be in Utah; second off, she doesn't want to be on a mission in general, and she's told me that! I seriously am trying everything in my power to make her feel important, loved and trusted. I want her to love these people as much as I do. Lesson learned though ... we can't take young women out with us very often; my comp's maturity suddenly goes down to Beehive level and it's way to hard to deal with ... hahah. Basically I'm just trying to keep us busy so she doesn't have time to get homesick. I hope she's doing okay? She doesn't really tell me ...
I always say how much I love working with girls ages 13-30-ish ... well right now, those ar the only peopel we're teaching and I LOVE it (one being Kari, the blonde in that training video). We found so many new investigators and are really close with a lot of people. Holly (the one who texted you ) is the daughter of the family we live with; she's 29 and has 2-year-old son; she has her hair license, massage license and her aesthetician license. She's trying so hard to be a good person and find a good guy to date and marry. This past week, I've gotten very close to her. She took us out to lunch the other day (to a buffet, after we'd already eaten ... that day was a train wreck; I wanted to kill myself.), and then on P-day yesterday, we went down to station park (Farmington version of San Tan Mall) and ran errands with her, shopped and then got fro yo. Holly is so amazing and I just lover her so much! She's had such a hard life and has given everything up to raise her son. Boys are so mean to her and don't give her any of the respect she deserves. i'm going to try to bring her to some lessons with the girls we are teaching; I think it could really benefit both ends of people. I never want to leave Bountiful because I want to live wiht Holly and the Binghams forever!
Somehow everyone's getting permission to come to my area on P-days and have me cut their hair ...? I cut Sister Hornberger's (my trainer) and a couple other sisters yesterday. It was so fun; it made me feel right at home and I was so happy. We're teaching a 22-year-old Tongan guy who came over to the states a couple years ago. He's the definition of a golden investigator. After we recited the first vision I asked how he felt and he said, "absolutely amazing." After we taught the plan of salvation he kept saying, "this is wonderful, this is amazing, this is too good to be true, this is what I've been looking for my whole life; why don't Catholics teach this? Where has this been my whole life?" He's seriously perfect. My trainee Sister H probably thinks that's how all investigators are because he's the first we've taught together ... hahaa! If only. He's praying about a baptism date and hopefully will decide soon!
Thank you for all the love and support hope you are all doing well.
Heidi
PS Enjoy my video! I know; I'm a natural on the camera.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Day 3 as a trainer
Family,
Hello! I'm on day 3 with my trainee ... her name is Sister H and she is very sweet. I'm trying very hard to make her feel welcomed and loved and comfortable. Her first day was really hard and she almost started crying a couple times, it was so sad! I wanted so badly to help her but I couldn't get her to open up and tell me what was wrong ... finally she said she didn't even want to serve a mission in the first place. She's just here because her friends and family pushed her to either go on a mission or go to college. She's really homesick and just was really struggling. I've tried really hard to help her see that the mission is fun and if she keeps busy, she won't have time to get homesick. I love being a trainer. I love being in charge and working hard. I love the responsibility and I realized the other day, I love the mission - finally! The people here are wonderful and I have this new mindset of thinking - what new friends can we make today? What friends can we see and help and have fun with? It doesn't feel like a drag anymore ... I'm not anxious about getting home anymore. I just love it here. I want to help Sister H feel that too! I've really been keeping the schedule full so she sees how important it is to work. We share messages and prayers with every house we go into; we don't waste time and we are prompt to every appointment. Lessons are well planned and organized. I love being in charge!
You know what else? My comp is completely different from me ... we have nothing in common. she likes Korean anime and eats American cheese (EW). But I LOVE her! I'm so excited to get to work. I'm just hoping the work picks up and we find lots of people to teach and keep our schedules full!
My favorite people in this area are 1) Holly (30-year-old single mom; daughter of the family we live with). She does hair and she's so cute and sweet and asks me for advice on stuff. 2) Brother Lovato - ward mission leader whose house we skyped from on Christmas. He is SO funny and awesome and blunt with people. 3) President Johnson - former mission president; just finished last term being mayor after 12 years. He's so funny; he cusses sometimes and jokes around with us all the time. 4) Kim B and her family. We're teaching Delaney (daughter, 13) and she's going to be baptized this month. The family's inactive but Kim is always texting me, asking about scriptures, etc. One day, I WILL get her to church!
Love,
Heidi
Hello! I'm on day 3 with my trainee ... her name is Sister H and she is very sweet. I'm trying very hard to make her feel welcomed and loved and comfortable. Her first day was really hard and she almost started crying a couple times, it was so sad! I wanted so badly to help her but I couldn't get her to open up and tell me what was wrong ... finally she said she didn't even want to serve a mission in the first place. She's just here because her friends and family pushed her to either go on a mission or go to college. She's really homesick and just was really struggling. I've tried really hard to help her see that the mission is fun and if she keeps busy, she won't have time to get homesick. I love being a trainer. I love being in charge and working hard. I love the responsibility and I realized the other day, I love the mission - finally! The people here are wonderful and I have this new mindset of thinking - what new friends can we make today? What friends can we see and help and have fun with? It doesn't feel like a drag anymore ... I'm not anxious about getting home anymore. I just love it here. I want to help Sister H feel that too! I've really been keeping the schedule full so she sees how important it is to work. We share messages and prayers with every house we go into; we don't waste time and we are prompt to every appointment. Lessons are well planned and organized. I love being in charge!
You know what else? My comp is completely different from me ... we have nothing in common. she likes Korean anime and eats American cheese (EW). But I LOVE her! I'm so excited to get to work. I'm just hoping the work picks up and we find lots of people to teach and keep our schedules full!
My favorite people in this area are 1) Holly (30-year-old single mom; daughter of the family we live with). She does hair and she's so cute and sweet and asks me for advice on stuff. 2) Brother Lovato - ward mission leader whose house we skyped from on Christmas. He is SO funny and awesome and blunt with people. 3) President Johnson - former mission president; just finished last term being mayor after 12 years. He's so funny; he cusses sometimes and jokes around with us all the time. 4) Kim B and her family. We're teaching Delaney (daughter, 13) and she's going to be baptized this month. The family's inactive but Kim is always texting me, asking about scriptures, etc. One day, I WILL get her to church!
Love,
Heidi
Monday, January 13, 2014
I'm a celebrity! HAHA
Family -
It was a fantastic week, and to make it even better, I'm training a new missionary starting tomorrow, which means I GET TO BE IN CHARGE, BABY! And I love being in charge ... hahahah. So last Monday we got to go to Boondocks for P-day and play laser tag and go bowling and stuff ... that was fun. It felt like a date though ...? Weird. We had our lesson with Kari this week, Elder Summerhays of the 70 was there. The film crew for KSL was there because Kevin Eubank (weatherman) is our stake high councilor over missionary work. The whole film crew was there and I got to be microphoned and got camera makeup and everything! Me and Sister C got interviewed afterwards and it was so cool. Like, definitely the best lesson I've had on the mission so far. Everyone was crying ... hopefully it will make a good training video and go worldwide and I'll be famous! (Probably not, but I can dream). Last night we canceled our dinner appointment and the took the Schmidt's up on their offer (even though it wasn't their week to feed us) and Sister C scheduled it a 2-hour dinner appointment ... I just wasn't very happy with the whole situation. She's a fame seeker though, and really wants him to hook her up with a recording company or something ... needless to say, it's annoying, but I'm grinning and bearing it. One lesson I've learned from her ... it's important to make your companion feel loved and important. This girl I'm training, she's going to be SO loved. I'm going to worship the ground she walks on. But anyways ... the Schmidt's have a son who just got back from a mission and he said something like, "don't you guys have a strict rule on 1-hour dinners?" I literally said nothing and turned to Sister C to answer that one. Take it away, Babe, you were the one that INSISTED we do this ... Heavenly Father's trying to teach me patience and humility, that's for sure.
So because I'm training now ... I have to drive the car .. please pray I don't die. Our car has terrible tires for snow and I have never EVER driven in snow before. EVER. I really might die ... PS birthday idea, a GPS? you all know my sense of direction is atrocious.
Heidi
It was a fantastic week, and to make it even better, I'm training a new missionary starting tomorrow, which means I GET TO BE IN CHARGE, BABY! And I love being in charge ... hahahah. So last Monday we got to go to Boondocks for P-day and play laser tag and go bowling and stuff ... that was fun. It felt like a date though ...? Weird. We had our lesson with Kari this week, Elder Summerhays of the 70 was there. The film crew for KSL was there because Kevin Eubank (weatherman) is our stake high councilor over missionary work. The whole film crew was there and I got to be microphoned and got camera makeup and everything! Me and Sister C got interviewed afterwards and it was so cool. Like, definitely the best lesson I've had on the mission so far. Everyone was crying ... hopefully it will make a good training video and go worldwide and I'll be famous! (Probably not, but I can dream). Last night we canceled our dinner appointment and the took the Schmidt's up on their offer (even though it wasn't their week to feed us) and Sister C scheduled it a 2-hour dinner appointment ... I just wasn't very happy with the whole situation. She's a fame seeker though, and really wants him to hook her up with a recording company or something ... needless to say, it's annoying, but I'm grinning and bearing it. One lesson I've learned from her ... it's important to make your companion feel loved and important. This girl I'm training, she's going to be SO loved. I'm going to worship the ground she walks on. But anyways ... the Schmidt's have a son who just got back from a mission and he said something like, "don't you guys have a strict rule on 1-hour dinners?" I literally said nothing and turned to Sister C to answer that one. Take it away, Babe, you were the one that INSISTED we do this ... Heavenly Father's trying to teach me patience and humility, that's for sure.
So because I'm training now ... I have to drive the car .. please pray I don't die. Our car has terrible tires for snow and I have never EVER driven in snow before. EVER. I really might die ... PS birthday idea, a GPS? you all know my sense of direction is atrocious.
Heidi
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
A little bit of venting ...
Family -
Well yesterday we had zone conference - all of the missionaries in the Farmington, Bountiful and Cannon Zones were there. I saw Sister P (last comp from my trio) and I seriously cried because I miss her so much. She's the best missionary I've ever seen; she's so funny and she is so sweet to me. I was thinking how I just need to learn to love my comp right now and then I'll be so much happier, but it's way easier said than done. What do you do when your companion's stubborn and set in her ways and kind of selfish? Normally I'm the one that has that problem, not the other way around! I seriously try to serve her and make her happy every opportunity I have, but she never returns the favor. Which normally I totally wouldn't care about, but somehow it makes me feel like crap. I just want her to love me like I do her! I mentioned something like that to her (in nice terms) and she said, "maybe you're just too used to being spoiled." She makes me feel like I can't do anything right. So anyways, transfers are on the 14th and I can't decide if I should be praying for the strength to survive her another transfer so no other sister will have to or pray to get transferred hahah. Sister Hansen was saying she felt bad for me and she was sorry (that's when you know you really do have it rough) and I said, "you know what? It's okay. The mission's not supposed to be easy; if it was no one would learn or grow. Companions aren't supposed to be perfect for you." Anyways, I'll keep you posted on that.
Tonight we took Annie Schmidt (Jon's daughter) on splits and she is the funnest, cutest thing ever. We like taking girls out when we contact people so they can see how hard a mission is. When you get our boots wet and no one answers the door or no one lets you in or you run out of stuff ot do because members don't do their part in finding people ... I know it's not nice, but they need to see how missionary life really is!
The good news is, we're starting to teach more lessons and find more people. And I still haven't had sweets since Christmas! Except I had some caramel popcorn the other day ... but I'm not counting that. I decided that missions "refire" you because you have to deal with every possible trial.
Hope everyone's doing well! Love you all!
Heidi
Well yesterday we had zone conference - all of the missionaries in the Farmington, Bountiful and Cannon Zones were there. I saw Sister P (last comp from my trio) and I seriously cried because I miss her so much. She's the best missionary I've ever seen; she's so funny and she is so sweet to me. I was thinking how I just need to learn to love my comp right now and then I'll be so much happier, but it's way easier said than done. What do you do when your companion's stubborn and set in her ways and kind of selfish? Normally I'm the one that has that problem, not the other way around! I seriously try to serve her and make her happy every opportunity I have, but she never returns the favor. Which normally I totally wouldn't care about, but somehow it makes me feel like crap. I just want her to love me like I do her! I mentioned something like that to her (in nice terms) and she said, "maybe you're just too used to being spoiled." She makes me feel like I can't do anything right. So anyways, transfers are on the 14th and I can't decide if I should be praying for the strength to survive her another transfer so no other sister will have to or pray to get transferred hahah. Sister Hansen was saying she felt bad for me and she was sorry (that's when you know you really do have it rough) and I said, "you know what? It's okay. The mission's not supposed to be easy; if it was no one would learn or grow. Companions aren't supposed to be perfect for you." Anyways, I'll keep you posted on that.
Tonight we took Annie Schmidt (Jon's daughter) on splits and she is the funnest, cutest thing ever. We like taking girls out when we contact people so they can see how hard a mission is. When you get our boots wet and no one answers the door or no one lets you in or you run out of stuff ot do because members don't do their part in finding people ... I know it's not nice, but they need to see how missionary life really is!
The good news is, we're starting to teach more lessons and find more people. And I still haven't had sweets since Christmas! Except I had some caramel popcorn the other day ... but I'm not counting that. I decided that missions "refire" you because you have to deal with every possible trial.
Hope everyone's doing well! Love you all!
Heidi
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| My District - Jan 2014 |
Monday, January 6, 2014
Mormon celebrities
Family -
This was a good week. Why? Sister C was really sick ... and so I made her stay in and I went out on splits. I know that's a bad reason for it to be a good week, but it was ... haha, I was the happiest I've been in awhile. I got to go teach a lesson with Sister B, who just got released from being a mission president's wife. She was awesome to have at a lesson because she knows exactly what's up.
But things are getting better with us. I have a feeling they'll keep us together for the next transfer (transfers are a week from tommorow) and I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Word has gotten out that I cut hair ... I did like 5 elders this week. I hate it because it's awkward having to make conversation with them; I feel like I'm on a date! And let's be real here; they're all weird. But on the plus side, they buy me lunch! So that's been nice. On New Year's Eve we watched Tangled (my favorite movie, as you are well aware (NOT)) and Epic. Have you seen that? Don't. It's terrible. And Sister C chugged a whole bottle of apple cider and I almost threw up watching her. Blek. There's a guy in our stake who sells diamonds and he gave us pearl jewelry (because everyone's rich and nice like that here). So I had a fun convo about diamonds (my fav subject) with him and Sister C randomly goes, "what's a carat?" ... Oh dear. And as were leaving he asked if their family could do anything for us and I said, "well, in about a year I'll send a boy up here to buy me a diamond; tell him I want as big as possible, round cut solitaire, white gold band." Everyone CRACKED UP, hahahh.
So one of the ward mission leaders is the mayor of Layton and an ex-mission president .. he cusses all the time and hugs me at church, but he's awesome, hahahha, I love him. Also, last Monday we had to go down to the church office building because Sister C's getting interviewed for the Ensign ... some cool story about someone she baptized in her last area. But while we were there, we got to meet a bunch of the 70's and the secretaries for the 12 and get a tour .. it was awesome! Then last night we got to go to a seminary fireside that President Eyring was speaking at (we weren't supposed to go to that but Sister C is a fame seeker and tries to meet as many celebs as possible ... I hate it). Anyways, we went with one of our investigators who is 13. It was awesome. And then Elder Summerhays (area 70) called us last night and asked if we would be in a church-wide instructional video for stake presidents. We have a bishop in the stake who is SO awesome at missionary work. He's a dermatologist and we are teaching a lot of his employees the lessons, so they're using him as an example of good leadership missionaries, and me and Sister C get to be filmed teaching a lesson in his house! We get microphones and everything! Woo! Sorry ... I'm a little excited. Perks of Salt Lake missionaries, I suppose.
Heidi
This was a good week. Why? Sister C was really sick ... and so I made her stay in and I went out on splits. I know that's a bad reason for it to be a good week, but it was ... haha, I was the happiest I've been in awhile. I got to go teach a lesson with Sister B, who just got released from being a mission president's wife. She was awesome to have at a lesson because she knows exactly what's up.
But things are getting better with us. I have a feeling they'll keep us together for the next transfer (transfers are a week from tommorow) and I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Word has gotten out that I cut hair ... I did like 5 elders this week. I hate it because it's awkward having to make conversation with them; I feel like I'm on a date! And let's be real here; they're all weird. But on the plus side, they buy me lunch! So that's been nice. On New Year's Eve we watched Tangled (my favorite movie, as you are well aware (NOT)) and Epic. Have you seen that? Don't. It's terrible. And Sister C chugged a whole bottle of apple cider and I almost threw up watching her. Blek. There's a guy in our stake who sells diamonds and he gave us pearl jewelry (because everyone's rich and nice like that here). So I had a fun convo about diamonds (my fav subject) with him and Sister C randomly goes, "what's a carat?" ... Oh dear. And as were leaving he asked if their family could do anything for us and I said, "well, in about a year I'll send a boy up here to buy me a diamond; tell him I want as big as possible, round cut solitaire, white gold band." Everyone CRACKED UP, hahahh.
So one of the ward mission leaders is the mayor of Layton and an ex-mission president .. he cusses all the time and hugs me at church, but he's awesome, hahahha, I love him. Also, last Monday we had to go down to the church office building because Sister C's getting interviewed for the Ensign ... some cool story about someone she baptized in her last area. But while we were there, we got to meet a bunch of the 70's and the secretaries for the 12 and get a tour .. it was awesome! Then last night we got to go to a seminary fireside that President Eyring was speaking at (we weren't supposed to go to that but Sister C is a fame seeker and tries to meet as many celebs as possible ... I hate it). Anyways, we went with one of our investigators who is 13. It was awesome. And then Elder Summerhays (area 70) called us last night and asked if we would be in a church-wide instructional video for stake presidents. We have a bishop in the stake who is SO awesome at missionary work. He's a dermatologist and we are teaching a lot of his employees the lessons, so they're using him as an example of good leadership missionaries, and me and Sister C get to be filmed teaching a lesson in his house! We get microphones and everything! Woo! Sorry ... I'm a little excited. Perks of Salt Lake missionaries, I suppose.
Heidi
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| Sister C, Jon Schmidt and me |
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