Adventures in FOOD ...

Let me tell you something..... my mission has taught me to be a dang good cook. Sister H is a FANTASTIC cook. She has opened my eyes to a world of crazy seasonings and exotic food. Amanda kind of did that for me at college... she always wanted to make these fancy organic exotic yummy stuff.... Sister H's like that too. We're both food snobs. I have taught her to cut down the calories and stuff... like you really don't need to fry everything in canola oil (ew) but I gotta hand it to her- she will make a man very happy one day! She works miracles with food. So I've learned some tips from her the 4 months we've served together. We decided we're going to open a cafe in Provo because she makes good meat and vegetables and salads and I make DANG GOOD baked goods. She usually doesn't like cookies.... but she likes mine. I'm getting so good at throwing stuff together and baking it and it being delicious. We are seriously the perfect combo. Plus all of our investigators love us because I bring them really delicious cookies every Saturday in order to bribe them to come to church. I mean,..... because I love them and care about their spiritual progression and bake them things to show my love and support..? Seriously we are good. Plus- we are getting really in shape! We have been bringing a different set of sisters in the zone with us each week on our hike.... they can't keep up with us! Boo ya!

One more thing on food...... you know how I hate oily, fried, greasy, creamy things? I have a sweet tooth, not a high cholesterol, high fat tooth..... plus I'm not a huge meat fan... especially red meat.... I think Lauren helped me on that one... Well this week- someone fed us the NASTIEST thing of my whole mission..... they literally slapped some steaks on a cookie sheet and wrapped it in bacon. The steak had no flavor or seasonings (H was dying) and it was tough and icky.... the bacon was pure fat and not cooked well.... so it was tough, bland steak that was soggy on the outside from bacon fat. I seriously thought I was going to throw up. Now add creamed corn (I watched them put a whole package of cream cheese plus sour cream and butter in it) - I seriously thought I was going to die. I finally asked for a tupperware to take it to go and then me and H went to Paradise Bakery. The end. I was traumatized.

What else this week..... so we got a new investigator from our open house a couple weeks ago. His name is Italo (Peruvian/italian). We taught him the first lesson (in and out in 30 minutes with a fellowshipper present OF COURSE because we are model STL's) and it went SO WELL. Like perfectly. He was so interested and accepted baptism, as long as he keeps feeling good about it. Well then the next day we got a call from his fellowshipper... apparently his Catholic wife was not ok with him joining the church and he decided it was causing too much contention in the family. Boom, dropped. Lovely, right? Oh well.

Carson and Ashley randomly showed up at church..... we were SHOCKED. This is a week after he told me he'd have to finish the Book of Mormon before he made the decision to come to church again or not... well we happened to be speaking in their sacrament meeting that week. We were supposed to talk about missionary work.... but we both changed our plans completely at the last minute because they were there. I had no idea what I was going to say when I got up there and to be honest I can't remember what I talked about for 15 minutes but it was REALLY good. Everyone loved it. I hope it worked on them because Ashley was getting emotional.

Had another open house Saturday. Went really well! One of our previous investigators who dropped us a couple weeks ago came, we worked some magic and now she wants to have the lessons again!

Me and Sister H love being STL's... We found out through all these exchanges lately- these sisters are really struggling. They've had hard lives! I went on exchanges this week with Sister F... she's from Rhode island and NYC. Her family are converts and she was baptized when she was 9 but inactve until a year before she left on her mission. She is AWESOME. She was a dancer for a fancy studio in NYC but then they pretty much kicked her out because she wasn't skinny enough... that didn't stop her! She went to college and got a degree in marketing- then worked her way up to organizing fashion shows for cancer research and eating disorder organizations. Plus she was president of her sorority and worked at Coach.... needless to say, we get along quite well. Anyways.... she had a good life going before she left. I asked her why she decided to leave it all behind and she said... "I realized there's more to life than trying to be the world's version of perfect. The gospel's the only thing that really ever made me happy. My life will be there when I get home, but I want people to learn what I had to the hard way." How awesome is she?! I love her.... anyways... we also found out a sister in our zone has a bad eating disorder and she seriously looks so sick.... it's really sad. We were talking about it and decided.... our area is really struggling right now. We have no one even close to baptism or reactivation. But maybe our work right now is supposed to be with the sisters in our zone? I learned a whole new way to love this week. I know the things I have been through have been to prepare me to help these poor sisters. A lot of them are converts and their families won't talk to them anymore.... a lot of them have companions who are so mean to them- they're seriously suicidal. Like how sad! I was thinking and telling H..... as missionaries, we love the people we teach SO much and we love the Lord. But why can't we love ourselves? if these sisters really understood how much the Lord loved them... they would love and respect themselves and therefore love their companions and the people they teach. There wouldn't be modesty or flirting with elder issues.... there wouldn't be confidence issues or eating disorders. Companionships wouldn't hate each other and we wouldn't have to play drama control.... everything would be perfect! So grateful me and Sister H have struggled with all of this in the past. Sister H has 3 weeks left- but we are determined to fix these sisters' lives and help the mission- even if that means we only teach 5 lessons a week.

That is all, have a great week!

Sister Shields

Brody and Tara's new baby, Deegan

Rich's son Tyler, who ADORES me - notice his missionary name tag that he wears everywhere he goes ...
like, we need to baptize your dad first, haha!

A really, really tough week ...

This week:

Well, yesterday we had absolutely no one come to church. We have 5 investigators and 3 less actives we are working with. Plus 4 returned members. How many came to church? ZERO. It was absolutely ridiculous. Me and Sister H realized...... a mission is dang hard, and no one tells you that before you sign up for it. Occasionally you might hear "it was hard, but worth it"... that's an understatement. Do you know how SICK AND TIRED I am of hearing "Where are you from?! How long have you been out?!" Okay- is that all I am good for? Is that the most important thing to be asking a disciple of Christ? Sorry, I'm done. But we are both just really sick of people 1) not understanding the important of church attendance 2) forcing us to eat white rice and rolls and potatoes and creamy sauces that make us SICK (I'm gagging thinking about it) and 3) asking us those same 2 questions at least 30 times a day.

-Uncle Dave did our teeth and SAVED OUR LIVES. Seriously, I don't think he understands how much we appreciate it. Sister Hornberger's family really has no money..... after her mom had all those cancer treatments and passed away- her dad was sucked dry. Now his health is so bad- he can't work very much so they really have no money. She really really needed a crown on one of her teeth that she had a root canal on... but her dad just could not afford it. Dave is going to put one on for free and that really means the world to her.

-Zone conference: Me and Sister Hornberger gave a fabulous training. We did a role play in front of everyone and everyone was busting up by the end of it because I figured they were all falling asleep so I made it a little fun. Even President Hansen was laughing! It was really good though- don't you worry.

-Exchanges with Sister Hamblin. I miss and love her so much! What a good, dedicated missionary. I wish sometimes that I could have stayed with her to finish up her training.... but I love Hornberger too so it's all good.

-Taught Carson a lesson yesterday. In the middle of the lesson he said, "I need to finish reading the Book of Mormon before I make a decision." I was like, "a decision on what...... baptism?" Carson: "Uh, no. A decision of whether I come to church again or not." Are you kidding me? I just about slapped him and walked out.

-Had a "youth chat" last night... 60 kids there! We taught family history and got them excited about it. Went really really well! I LOVE working with the youth!

-We decided our bad luck might be because we're not working hard enough. We repented and are really going to try to do less "service" (AKA giving people mani/pedi's) and do more door knocking.......

-That's all I can think of right now...... sorry this sucks but it was one of those weeks.

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." (2 Timothy 1:7-8) "I wish every member of this church would put these words where he might see them every morning as he begins his day. They would give us courage to speak up, they would give us strength to try, they would strengthen our conviction of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I believe miracles would happen." -Gordon B. Hinkley

Have a good week!

xoxoxo
Sister Shields

Stepfathers, I have two Hispanic children, and EARTHQUAKE!

Don't have much time today but let me fill you in..... This week:

-Me and Sister H had an open house for one of our church buildings. It's the 2nd oldest church in Utah that is still in use. It has a creepy basement and fireplaces in all the rooms and a trap door that led to the previously used baptismal font. I kid you not. We decided we could use this historical building as leverage to get people to invite their neighbors. We did tours of the building, with a person from RS, primary, YW, priesthood etc., standing in the corresponding room and explaining what the organization is and does for like 30 seconds. In between rooms, Sister H and I pointed out the artwork on the wall and rearranged the pictures so they flowed with the first lesson... we explained the resurrection, Christ being baptized, Joseph Smith, etc. and then bore a quick testimony of each one. Not gonna lie- it was awesome. We ended in the chapel where one of the bishops explained the sacrament. Then they went in the cultural hall and made ice cream sundaes. It was a HUGE success-- thanks to our senior full time couple who advertised for us. We had multiple less-actives and about 10 nonmembers come. Because it was so short and sweet, (each tour was about 15 minutes) the people loved it. We haven't gotten any new investigators out of it so far, but there are some promising ones! Yes yes, I know we are smart successful missionaries...... what can I say.

Funny thing though ... Rich and his kids came. His kids LOVE me, right? So they were following me like lost puppies. So I was talking with this sweet old black baptist lady and she sees the boys tugging on me and pulling on me and hugging my legs and what not... she goes, "your boys are SO precious- they look just like you! How old are they?" Uh........ #1-MISSIONARY- that basically means Mormon nun, lady. She obviously doesn't know what missionaries do.... #2- Rich's ex-wife is Hispanic.... which means his kids are half Hispanic.... uhh. Anyways so after that, Tyler and Josh were telling everyone, "a lady asked if Sister Shields was my mom! I wish you were my mom, Sister Shields...." They are so cute, I don't think you understand... they are PERFECT kids. And Rich told me we do look similar- he asked if I have some blood in me that's not white... do you know what I said?  This is embarrassing but here's what I said... "well my boyfriend's half Chilean and my great-grandma was born in Mexico" (ps are you proud of me that I remembered that? I've been doing some serious fam history). Can you believe I said that? Like am I retarded? Apparently..... but they got a kick out of it and have been bringing it up ever since to mock me.

-Felt my first earthquake! It was life threatening- my bottle of catwalk salt spray legit fell off the windowsill.

-Sister H is an angel. I love her and we get along so well. This is the longest either of us has been with one companion and the first time we've had a comp who's not a trainee. Well, except for the time I was with Sister C for the worst 6 weeks of my life... I mean.... what? We have a lot in common and we are both brats... example- we had a last minute leadership meeting in SLC on Saturday morning and had to miss a ward breakfast for it. I texted the AP's back and said, "we will be in attendance. But we are missing a ward breakfast with potential investigators present- this meeting better be catered by IHOP." He responded, "sorry- we booked Denny's weeks ago- thanks for your dedication to missionary work sisters." In the meeting that day... both the AP's and president brought it up at least 3 times, hahah they thought it was so funny! But they also gave the credit to Sister H .... because she's the one that usually says stuff like that... basically everyone hates us. Oh well, we're still at the top of the mission food chain. Sorry, I'm done. I'll repent.

Also... she's getting kind of trunky..... and it's making me kinda trunky.... like it's a problem. We still work hard and are obedient and what not... but she's planning out BYU in the fall and talking about music and shopping and boys and it's really hard for me! Like- I still have 8 months left!! To answer Mom's question about transfers- I have no idea what will happen. I will probably stay with Sister H here until she leaves on July 22, but then after that I'll either get released as an STL and train a new missionary (the "flood" is about to come in from all the new missionaries that graduated this year) or get put with another STL comp. I'll probably for sure stay in this stake for at least another 2 or 3 transfers though.

-We taught Primary yesterday in Rich's ward....

Me: "so if God is our Heavenly Father, and Jesus is his son, what does that make Jesus?"
Josh (6): "Sister Shields, call on me- I know! OUR STEPFATHER!"
The girl next to him: "yeah, our stepfather!"
.............. yeah--close, kids!
How sad is it that in this generation a 6-year-old's normal vocabulary and frame of mind include the word "stepfather."

-Our stake president is wonderful..... but really intimidating. He gets the work done and his whole life is missionary work.... but at the same time, every time I'm around him I feel like I'm walking on tip toe and trying to be perfect so he doesn't chew me out. It's really stressful and I do not like it. Great to have a supportive stake president... not so great when they scare the living daylights out of you. To make matters worse, I've been here a month now and he still forgets my name. Everyone here loves Sister H and looks at me like I'm pond scum and don't know anything... I'm not kidding. He doesn't talk to me or even glance at me in coordination meetings. I'm trying so hard to do things right and prove I'm a good missionary but nothing's working. that's the hardest thing about this area right now.

-Last night we made s'mores at Rich and Lorie's (because I LOVE s'mores) and the sprinklers kept coming on us like every 10 minutes.... it was miserable. Anyways- that's what that picture is that I sent. Rich got like 5 of me and Lorie, and in every single one I'm giving someone a death glare. Sorry I don't try to!!! But it's kind of a funny picture, hahah.

-Teaching a boyfriend and girlfriend who live together, named Carson and Ashley. Carson's not a member and Ashley is less active. They are SO fun! Sister H thinks Carson's a punk (he is) and Ashley's a drama queen ditz (she kinda is), so we go on splits for their lessons and I teach them. They really like me and I LOVE them! Hornberger says I can relate to them and get along with them and I'm exactly what they need. She's taught them for months but they have never progressed very much. Ashley is such a cutie and she's so fun. She reminds me SO MUCH of Lauren- she laughs like her and says comments that are just like something Lauren would say. It makes me so happy- I miss Lauren so much! They are so fun and I hope they get married so Carson can get baptized. They came to church for the first time in months and I take credit for that.

-I love being a missionary. I love the feeling of helping someone learn to love the gospel and see the difference it makes in their life. I love working hard and being tired. I love eating healthy so I can focus on the work. I love learning to have fun and work at the same time. I love working with cute couples like Carson and Ashley who are exactly like my friends at home and seeing them be happy. I hate living "p-day to p-day," like me and Sister H say... but what can you do?

Sister Shields

Making s'mores at Rich & Lorie's - is this the funniest picture or what?  I promise I wasn't trying to give a death glare!

Hoarders, CSI, and Secret Life of a Middle-Aged Man - Treat us for PSD!!

............. that's how me and Sister Hornberger feel right now. Mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted. Let's start with 10:00 am this morning. We spent a couple hours cleaning BLOOD stains out of a CRIME SCENE CAR with a TOOTHBRUSH. 

Okay so this week..... Members are getting frustrated with "hastening the work" and being pushed to invite and be missionary minded and all of that... especially when there's 8 nonmembers in each ward and they've been invited over and over and over again.... So one of our bishops had this brilliant idea. Ready? Hastening the work means here on earth- AND on the other side. Family history and temple work. So what if we used that as a finding idea? He's organizing this huge program for us to split with the family history specialists and visit every youth in his ward and give them a little intro to family history. This will be double effective- meeting with the youth, gaining their trust, getting referrals, helping them with their missionary work, encouraging them to serve missions. Plus getting them hooked on family history. Eventually the bishop wants us to get into the less active and nonmember homes to show them how to get started, because apparently a lot of people find it interesting. Problem.... neither me or Sister H have ever done family history.  I don't even know how to start..... so we decided to take a couple hours and be instructed. It is SO fun and addicting! It's like online bargain hunting or blog stalking! I'm not even kidding, guys! Anyways, that's our newest finding idea and I am pumped about it.

My old stake in Bountiful is really struggling... they have nothing to do, no one to teach and are being fed too many desserts. We are trying to be good STL's and help them, but.... I don't know what to say! This Centerville stake is really similar- the difference is the leadership and stake support. If we have an idea, the stake takes it and runs with it. They set up appointments for us, they find people for us to teach and things to keep us busy. They make phone calls and arrangements for us- it's weird but awesome! My new favorite quote..."when all is said and done- there is usually more said than done." (Pres. Hinckley). This is how I feel About EVERYTHING. Our stake president even buys us healthy groceries every week because our $30 a week is NOT enough to buy all the crap we throw in our nutrient dense smoothies.
HOARDERS

Let me just tell you how many houses I've had to go in and clean that could be on this show..... Like so many. Some of these houses are the nastiest things I've ever seen in my life. I thought I was a slob..... I might be clutter-y- but I know how to keep a kitchen and bathroom clean! Blek! I was on exchanges in west Bountiful and we went to one of their recent convert's house..... It's a 40-ish mom of 7 young kids. She had a stroke a couple months ago and has major brain damage. It's so sad... she probably has the comprehension of a 6 year old. Her husband works all day and she cannot run their household. I walked in and was SHOCKED. Like.... it was bad. Rotting chicken wings all over the floor, spilled milk and cereal crusted over everything that had probably been there for weeks... all the food on the counters was moldy, wet towels, dirty dishes everywhere.... like I cannot tell you how sad this was. I (being absolutely disgusted) grabbed a broom and some paper towels and lysol and went to work. Like I was on fire! I just felt so bad for this poor woman.... the sister I was on exchanges with kind of sat around and watched.... and when we left she was like, "wow, I didn't see that coming from you." What's that supposed to mean? ... Anyways- if I've learned nothing else on my mission, it has been to keep a clean house one day. Also- we were helping an old lady in the ward today clean her terrible house.... this is an OLD lady- like over 90. And she's crazy! Anyways her husband was asleep in the bed and she told me to go look at his face... I was like, "uhh ok...." I looked and his eyes were wide open staring at the ceiling.... I asked if he sleeps with his eyes open and she stops and goes.... "OH SHI**, HE"S DEAD!" HAHAHAHA, turns out he wasn't dead... just not asleep.... I cannot even tell you how freaking funny this was- Sister H and I were DYING, hahahahha!

CSI
Back to my story this morning... a nonmember in my area named Anahit ("Anna Heat") is from Armenia. Her husband tried to kill her this week. Literally took a knife to her! In front of her kids! Then he apologized and said he was taking her to the hospital.... he ended up trying to take her to a river or something to try and drown her. When she tried to escape- he RAN HER OVER WITH THE CAR. She is the sweetest thing ever.... it's so sad.... so we spent the morning trying to scrub splattered blood out of the seats in her car so she can drive it without having a meltdown. I'm not kidding- there was splattered blood everywhere. It was so traumatizing... we almost puked. It was like being in a movie - I kid you not. Sister H started crying when we were hearing her talk about how scared she was because honestly, we just know she needs the gospel in her life. She really really does! BAD! She hasn't accepted the lessons yet.. but we are working on it..

SECRET LIFE OF A MIDDLE AGED MAN
Rich. There has been so much drama I don't even have time to write it all out..... basically- he wants to be baptized so bad, but he is on probation for multiple things.... he also needs to get married to the girlfriend he is living with. His little boys are adorable though...... they love me and love the gospel. I was explaining to Tyler (7) about the sacrament at church on Sunday,.. I said we take it to remember Jesus and he goes, "what if people don't believe in Jesus?" I said... "well, I guess they don't have to be here. Or take it." And he says, "well, I believe in Jesus. I love Jesus. When my dad gets baptized, can he bless the bread for me everyday so I can think of Jesus everyday?" I almost cried it was so sweet! I gave him and his brother Josh CTR rings and told them what it meant.... Tyler is obsessed with it! Rich played me a recording of him talking the other day... He goes, "Dad, I can't eat this Reese's." "Why not?" "It's melted. That would make a mess. I don't think making a mess is choosing the right like Sister Shields told me to do...." HOW CUTE IS THAT. They are adorable.... We played a jeapardy review game with Rich on all of the lessons we've taught so far.... he loved it and it was amazing to see how all of the PMG lessons work together. The restoration is where our beliefs come from; the plan of salvation is what we believe and what it does for us, the gospel of Jesus Christ is how it's all possible; the commandments are how we live it. It's as simple as that and it's beautiful.

Thank you all- have a good week!

Sister Shields

This is a drawing Rich's boys made for me!

Life-Saving Memory Foam, Life-Threatening Hikes and Protein Powder

Family,

We bought memory foam pads this week and they SAVED both of our lives.... I sleep sound through the night, have more energy during the day, and don't hurt! If you could reimburse me that'd be great....... or just buy me an iPhone as a welcome home present; either will suffice :) And tell Uncle Dave thanks a billion for the dental work!

This has been a fun week.... me and Sister H are seriously having so much fun together- you wouldn't even believe it!  It's kind of ridiculous, hahahah - last week at the grocery store we had memory foam mattress toppers, a huge thing of protein powder, more fruits and veggies than you can imagine, nail polish, face masks, lotion, vitamins of every kind... I could go on. People probably think we are such snobby missionaries. And then today we got permission to go down to Farmington Station again (she's convinced she needs to "school shop") and I realized our shopaholic personalities are not good for each other, haha. We eat really healthy and go on intense hikes.... last week I sprained my ankle BAD, which I've never done before- I'm not usually clumsy like that... I think I'm out of shape and not used to hiking. We went again today and literally almost rolled down a cliff and died. I'm not being dramatic, we almost died.

It's also fun being STL's with Sister H. We had to do some serious drama control this week...... we had to break up a cat fight- I'm not kidding. And we've done a couple overnight exchange with people... let me tell you how those go down. Everyone thinks I'm like this super sweet, fun, easy to get along with, hard working, creative missionary. Which I am. But anyways- I think President, the ZL's and AP's think I'm the perfect peacemaker/problem solver for hard companionships and areas. I get to go with the troubled sister and Sister H gets to go with the "victim" and be a stress relief for her while I go fix the crap. This might sound mean- but seriously that's how this STL calling is going. President told me I'm good at "direct and loving confrontation." Great. It's kind of fun feeling like I'm helping people though. We did exchanges in Dave and Monica's stake the other night and I couldn't resist stopping by...... oops :)

This area is really weird.... not at all like Bountiful, which is weird because it's not even a mile away. But let me tell you why:  we get work handed to us here. Like no joke. We never have to really set stuff up on our own, we never door knock referrals ... nonmembers show up to church on their own out of the blue, then the ward mission leader has already set up an appointment for us to start teaching them before we know it. Like, it's weird haha. We did yard work for a less-active lady.... she showed up at church Sunday and plopped herself down next to me- like what? It's so weird..... in Bountiful- if we found someone new to teach (which didn't happen often) we worked like crazy for it! it was hard work getting people to church! I was talking to H (last companion) the other day and her new comp (she's been out longer than I have) is really frustrated with the area. They said they haven't been able to schedule a lesson at the B's and they never hear from them or Holly since I left. That stake is really struggling.... the new sister in the area was like, "how on earth did you get 3 baptisms here?! Tell me your secret!" I told her she's just gonna have to think outside the box and plan some good finding ideas or something... I didn't know what else to say! I feel bad for them.

So as for the people we are teaching here.... I'll name a few. Trichelle- she's a divorced mom with really bad health problems. Her ex-husband is a total jerk and treated her like crap and ruined all her self esteem. She's been recently reactivated but still needs lessons as a spiritual support. She's so friendly and funny- I LOVE her! She's seriously so much fun. It breaks my heart though because her teenage son has really bad depression and is always trying to jump off of elemetrary schools... (literally) and she has no money because she is so sick she can't work. She stays on the couch all day and has no motivation to go on. But I love her. I did her hair for her this week as a pick-me-up (for both of us, hahah).

Rich. He's not a member. He LOVES the church and wants to be baptized... but he's on probation so it has to wait. He's also living with his girlfriend Lori, who has been recently reactivated by Sister H. They are awesome and so much fun. There's a lot of drama there though...... I feel like a marriage counselor.

That's all I have time for right now- we are having so much fun! Have a wonderful week, everyone! xcoxoxoxoxoox

Heidi

The Clinger Family in Bountiful - I LOVE them!

And ... a few pictures from Jamison, just 'cause I know you want to see them :)