December 30, 2014 - Mom is way Behind!

Here ye, Here ye,

I am slowly but surely running out of greetings for these letters!! Things are going great here in good ol' Nevada! Transfers are coming up so next Wednesday, I could be somewhere completely different, doubtful, but you never know. Should be getting a call on Saturday. I am pretty sure I am becoming a permanent fixture of the Elko 3rd Ward. Might as well move my records! Bishop Talbot and his family are actually moving to Eureka within the next couple of weeks. I actually wanted to cry, that is how long I have been here. I wonder who the new Bishop will be? 

That is awesome that Preston is now an Elder!!! Does he know which temple he wants to go to yet? I miss the temple so much! It is really weird not being able to go for 6 whole months. Especially coming from Utah where I was able to go every single week. I am sure you guys gave great talks! I seriously wish I had Dad's skill of writing. Sorry I totally forgot to send you guys something from me to share. I have been super forgetful lately! So I apologize!! 

Christmas week was slow, but great!! Monday, we helped to build a huge playhouse that Miley, Marley, and Mac got for Christmas! I am now an expert roofer. It was tons of fun though because Elder Miller and I worked on one side and Elder Hayes and Sister Flores worked on the other side, so of course it turned into a race. Elder Miller and I would have won, but Elder Hayes started cheating. On Christmas Eve, we went caroling as a zone in an area! It was so much fun and after we went to a member's home for hot cocoa and treats! The only bad thing about the week is that I have had a sore throat and have been coughing up a lung I swear! Yay me!! And then finally on Friday I couldn't get out of bed, that is how sick I was. Spent the whole day in bed and boy was it ever so BORING! I hate being inside just laying around, doing nothing! It is the worst, especially when you know that there are way better things to be doing. So the rest of the weekend, we took things pretty slowly because I have been sick. Hooray!

Christmas day was lots of fun though!! We got up with the Simons and watched them and the girls open presents. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, every time Sister Flores and I got a package, Sister Simons made sure it went under the tree! Thank you everyone for all the wonderful Christmas gifts! The Simons are ridiculous and wonderful people! Santa even brought the missionaries a few things!! It was great to talk to you guys too!!! I am so glad you all are doing well! Dad, you will pay for making me cry! I did so well! I can't wait to chat with you all again in another 4ish months! 

Ryan had his 4th new member lesson this week!! The Goulding Family taught it and they were fantastic. Each of the kids took a commandment and then taught it to Ryan! One more lesson to go and then Ryan should be even more of a spiritual giant than he already is! Tammie came to church! Which was fantastic! She hasn't been in months and I am so glad she was able to make it to sacrament meeting. Speaking of sacrament meeting. Since coming on my mission, I have really come to understand the importance and just how sacred the sacrament is. It is as powerful and cleansing as baptism! I don't think I've ever really understood that until recently! I am so grateful for the opportunity we have to renew the promises we made to our Heavenly Father each week by partaking of something so simple, but so significant! 

With the New Year coming and all, I just want to apologize for all the wrongs I have done and for anything I have ever done to hurt anyone's feelings. I love you family and I am sorry you guys have had to put up with such a diva for 20 years now! I am so grateful for all you have taught me and done to take care of and support more. I feel like I have under appreciated you and just want you to know that I am so grateful for all the prayers, love, and support!!

I know that Christ has truly restored His gospel and church to the Earth. He loves and cares so much about each of us! 

            Much Love and Lots of Hugs!!

                        Sister Fish

Hey-O! Almost Christmas

Hey-o!! 

   So Christmas we are spending the day with the wonderful family we live with the simons!!! When I have gotten packages in the last few weeks, sister Simons has thrown them under the tree!! Then I think we will spend some time with the Harris family and have dinner with them. The missionaries are all having a party at the stake center so we may go spend some time with everyone. It will be really weird to not be home for Christmas, but it'll be fun. I'll miss getting up super early. You guys should take this year that I am not home and run with it. I feel like I was always the instigator of waking up super super early!! It sounds like you guys are having lots and lots of fun! Sorry I am keeping all of these short, I just want to talk to you about a lot on Christmas! I am so FREAKING EXCITED to see ya'll!! 

                               Much Love,

                                          Sister Fish

 

So we've been doing elf on the shelf for the 3 Simons' girls! It has been fun!

 

It has been fun taking pictures of the different things the elf is doing! My comp graduated in graphic design so she knows a lot about photography! She's been teaching me how to use my camera!

Found my Doppelganger

We went on exchanges last week! I was with Sister Bringhurst and we were told that we look and sound a like by one of her investigators. So we had to take pictures and get proof!! She's from Utah too! 

 

 

Christmas Bells Are Ringing

This week was kind of slow. We didn't do a whole lot of teaching but we did huge amounts of inviting! We have been inviting everyone to all the Christmas activities that are going on this month. Especially the Creche Festival. So the Creche was awesome!!! It is this multicultural interfaith event that happens every year around Christmas time here in Elko. Everyone donates their nativities to be displayed and they get tons from all over the world!! It is so cool. Be prepared for tons of pictures this week from that cause I took lots! They also have musical performances every night from all the different churches and musical groups in the area. This year, Sister Halls donated a collection of Madonna with Child. There were over 1,500 displayed. It was insane. So cool though. When I get home, I will definitely have to come back here around Christmas time. 

We taught our 80 yr. old investigator, Edie, the first lesson this week. It went pretty well. We talked to her about the apostasy and the restoration of Christ's church to the earth. We used cups to show what the Church is established on and how other Churches were created from Christ's original church. We wanted to make sure it was very visual so she wouldn't miss understand us. It went really well and I think slowly but surely she is understanding. We think mostly she is afraid of change and starting a "new life" at 80 some odd years old.

The weather here has been bitter. If there was no wind, it wouldn't be that bad, but of course there has to be wind. So it has been chilly chilly chilly. And funny story for everyone. I have grown up my whole life, even though there have been plenty of signs telling me otherwise, thinking that the whole state of Nevada is warm year round. So needless to say, I didn't pack well for the winter. Lots of shopping to do today! Everyone has been asking me where I am from, when I say Utah they wonder why I am not more prepared for the winter. :)

The Christmas devotional was great! We watched it at the stake center. So good, now the Christmas season can really start! The Simons (the family we live with) are amazing! They put up stockings for us and we even have presents wrapped under the Christmas tree. Love them a lot!! 

Well much love! I hope you all stay warm this December!!

Elko Creche Festival

Week of Thanksgiving

To whom it may concern,

So last week was Thanksgiving and boy was it ever so crazy!!! We had transfers the day before Turkey day and so Monday and Tuesday were spent running around teaching people and Sister Grigley saying her goodbyes. I have a new comp now! Sister Flores and I were in the MTC together.

Her family is from Mexico and so her first language is Spanish! She is awesome and I love her to death. We are going to have a lot of fun this transfer. Also, I am constantly being reminded of how small this world really is. Sister Flores is from Hyrum, UT and she worked as a custodian in the apartment complex where I lived while going to USU. I've seen her in "real life"!! That was a crazy connection!

Thanksgiving Day we went over to the recently released Stake President's home. President Shumway will one day be a general authority, I just know it. Thanksgiving there was great we ate with his family and a lot of the other missionaries from our zone! They have this tradition where they place three corn kernels at everyone's place on the table. Since there are three kernels, everyone says three things they are grateful for. It was so spiritual and basically like a testimony meeting, tears were shed and tissues were needed. 

From the Shumway's home, we went over to the Baumann's. The Baumann's are a family in our ward that our just awesome. They had the Semone's and the Harris' over as well. It was a ward gathering with the missionaries. Tons of fun. I ate so much food on Thurs. it is ridiculous. Do people normally have key lime pie as an option at their Thanksgiving meal? It was an option at both of ours! The food was delicious and I am so grateful that we were fed so willingly by members. One thing I really missed at dinner was real, from scratch, cooked in the bird, stuffing. Other than that I was perfectly content. 

After dinner we all tried to rip body parts off of one another in the form of a board game of course! We played Candy Man, which is basically a parody of Candy Land. Everyone is a gingerbread man that is running along from piece of candy to piece of candy. As you pass other players, you attack different parts of their gingerbread body. Like the gut, head, arms, and legs. And you collect trophies once the limb has been attacked so many times. It was pretty vicious and super hilarious. 

Friday morning, not so fun. Sister Flores and I were both sick. Luckily, we felt well enough a few hours before dinner to go out and invite people to a multicultural, interfaith Christmas Festival that is the weekend of December 7th. 

Saturday was full of lots of painting and tearing off wallpaper. Over the holiday, the Simons (the family we live with) were out of town and the Gouldings had family coming into town and no room in their home to house them, so the Simons being the wonderful and generous people that they are, had them stay at their home. So as a huge thank you and because Sister Goulding has always wanted to redo the Simons home, we fixed up one of the bedrooms upstairs. It was an all day project because it had to be done by Sunday since that was the day the Simons came home. I love the love that these ward members have for one another! 

Well, not much else to write about here. Our investigators have been afraid of us or something cause they are avoiding us like the plague, so we did a lot of work with the less actives in our area. 

I love you all and hoped you ate a piece of pie for me! 

      Miss ya more than homemade stuffing!

                Sister Fish

Baptism Day in Elko

Still in Elko

To all the rascals out there...

So this past week was pretty short! It flew by so dang fast! On Monday, we taught our 11 yr. old investigator and his family about prophets. Tod is really into football, so we tried to relate the gospel as best we could to football. It was not an easy thing my friends! We've been teaching him for a few weeks now and we aren't sure how much of what we teach he actually remembers. When we do go over to teach him, it is usually around 7:30 pm after he has had a long day of school and had football practice, so he is pretty beat! Thank goodness football is over after this weekend, so hopefully he will not want to fall asleep when we are teaching him.

Tuesday, what happened on Tuesday... my memory is seriously the worst. Oh yeah, Tuesday was awesome!!! I truly felt like I was fulfilling my purpose as a missionary! We were talking to people on the street, inviting them to the Creche and we saw a whole bunch of less actives who we invited to our weekly discussions on a gospel subject. It was just an awesome day! I haven't felt that motivated to do missionary work for most of this transfer! So it was just awesome.

Friday, we had another sister with us, Sister Flores. Her companion had to go home unexpectedly this transfer for surgery so she got to spend the day with us! It was a lot of fun, and as it turns out, she will actually be my new companion for the "Holiday" transfer! I am excited. She is a little quiet, but she has a powerful testimony so we should do some good things in the next 6 weeks! So we got the call Saturday night and I thought that I had been here long enough that I would be the one headed out, but apparently I thought wrong! I am staying in Elko in the 3rd ward for another month or so! I am freaking out! I love this ward so much and it is kind of hard to imagine serving anywhere else, because this is all I've known! I am happy to be spending the holidays with people I know and love!! Yipee! Speaking of the Holidays, I found out that we are really not all that crazy for how we celebrate Christmas!!! There is a family in our ward, the Harris' and guess what one of their Christmas traditions is?!?! They get up around 5 in the morning to open presents! Who does that? Haha. They actually invited us missionaries over to spend the day with them! I get to celebrate Christmas like we do at home! I am seriously so so so so so EXCITED!

On Sunday, another miracle happened! We were visiting with some less active members, and they invited us over for dinner this coming Saturday! We are pumped! That must mean they like us or something! I hope and pray that they will come back to the Lord's fold here in Elko because the ward and the Lord need them so much!

The best day of all this week had to be Wednesday! One of my favorite members of the ward gave us a referral awhile back for her cousin, and we have been visiting her off and on for a few months now. Well needless to say, the woman is 83 yrs. old and staunch in her religion. I felt super impressed to share my testimony with her. Thank goodness I did, because afterwards she shared her own simple and short testimony with us. She told us that she knows the Book of Mormon is true. She said that nobody could have made it up. After her testimony, she told us that no matter what she was going to remain a member of her faith. It broke my heart that she recognizes the truth, but won't act. It also gave me so much hope though! I am excited to continue seeing her and help build her faith and her understanding of Christ's church. I can't wait to see her progress. Moral of the story, nobody is too old to change!

 

Well not much else to report about here!! I love you all this much............................and hope you enjoy your Turkey Day!!

Sister Fish

First Baptism!

Well I am officially done training! And now that I am done training, my trainer has left me to become a Sister Training Leader in Sparks. So hooray. My new companion is Sister Grigley. She is a very good missionary and I can learn a lot from her. So it'll be a good transfer, I hope!

I am still in the Elko 3rd ward! I don't think that I will be here much longer after this transfer. It is funny how members start talking to their extended families about the missionaries. What can I say, we have awesome ward members, who have truly become like family while I am away from my own.

We have a baptism this week!!! Our sweet, little, 9 yr. old investigator, Ryan, has been praying about the Book of Mormon and about baptism. I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers, it may not be in the way that we expect, or even want, but He does listen! So Ryan told us that Heavenly Father said yes the Book of Mormon is true and that he should be baptized on October 26th. I am speaking at the baptism so I'll let you know how everything goes next week! I am seriously so excited for Ryan! If only all of our investigators could be more like him.

Serving a mission, makes you super emotional, like all the time! I can't ever decide whether I want to laugh or cry. And sometimes I feel like just kicking something. I must be crazy! Speaking of crazy, I now have multiple personality disorder. We role play like everyday so I have to be other people. I just don't know who I am anymore! haha. I hope my hormones/emotions aren't like this when I am married and prego. My poor husband!

I have also become Sister Fellman!!! Seriously the other day we were in the middle of talking with someone, and I caught myself saying something that she would say! I really won't know who I am after these 18 months, cause I will just be a combo of all of my companions! I am like Frankenstein's monster! Just parts of people!! Gah! Well, Happy Halloween to me!

The other day, we were teaching a 75 year old less active named Deeda. We were discussing the plan of salvation and we got to talking about being able to live with our families forever and how the people who have gone before us are around and looking after us, and I just lost it. I started bawling. I could hardly speak, my emotions overwhelmed me so much. I just felt so much emotion and the spirit was just so strong. I think that is one of the best teaching experiences I have had on my mission so far.

Well the next few weeks will be a lot of finding. It seems like we have like zero investigators and after Ryan is baptized this weekend, we will literally have no progression investigators. I pray every night that the hearts of people will be softened and that we will be lead to them!

Seriously mission life is crazy busy and slow all at the same time!! I miss ya'll so much. Can't believe that life still goes on for you all without me! haha! Write ya later!

 

Sister Fish

Still in Elko

The weather is ubber weird. A few weeks ago, it was like winter. Now it has remembered that it is autumn time. Actually yesterday, we had a ton of hail!!! Seriously, I couldn't even see the ground! It was weird! Mostly it has just been cloudy a lot lately and rains whenever it feels like it.

So transfers are this week and the verdict is that I will be staying in Elko for another 6 weeks!! I am also in the same ward which is AWESOME!!! The only downer is that I am getting a new companion! Sister Fellman is headed to sparks to become a Sister Training Leader!!! I will miss her a lot! Changing companions is ubber odd! Hey so random question?! I am trying to remember how to sign "Monster Mash" (the song) could you maybe type up the lyrics and email them to me!? I sure would appreciate it!

That is so funny that you asked about primary, because we actually had to teach the primary about this this last sunday!!! So ideas on how they can share the gospel....

1. be an example

2. don't be afraid to read the book of mormon or like the book of mormon stories books for silent reading at school

3. know your articles of faith so you can tell people who ask, what you believe!

4. invite friends to primary, primary activities, scouts, ward activities, or even family home evening

5. also invite friends to your baptism or your siblings baptism

6. if the gospel is something you love or is important to you and you are asked in class to write on what you love, don't be afraid to write about the gospel and Jesus Christ

7. wear your CTR ring always!!

8. you could even give a friend a pass along card with a picture of christ on it or a book of mormon with your testimony in it as a gift!!

That's really all I can think of right now, but I hope that gets your juices flowing too so you can think of other ways for them to share the gospel!!

Funny story, this morning, one of our investigators predicted my future!! She was a bit tipsy and told sister Fellman and I about the men we are going to marry! It was pretty hilarious!!

Love always!!

Sister Fish

Only in Nevada can you go to a bowling alley on your p-day and just around the corner are the legal brothels!!!!

Last Week in Elko?

To my dearest family and friends....

Well things have been rough to say the least. I have come to understand when everyone tells you that these 18 months will be the hardest of a persons life. A mission just tries you in so many ways, but I know that I will grow and learn so much more than I ever could at home! The Lord blesses us in our righteous endeavors!

I loved conference!!!! Oh my goodness it was so good. I felt like everyone was just speaking directly to me which just reminded me how much the Lord loves each of His children! It is just too hard to pick a favorite talk because each had something that I needed to be reminded of! We watched both sessions on Saturday with members. The morning was with a 60 year old less active. Florence is never afraid to tell you just what she thinks, that's for sure!! And then the afternoon session, we watched at the Halls and they are a sweet old couple in their 80s. Then we watched the Sunday sessions at the stake center. Dressing up for conference was kind of weird, no pjs for us!

It seems like a lot of our investigators or potential investigators are kind of fizzling out on us. No one will return our phone calls or whenever we go over they are "busy" (whether they really are busy is still a mystery). So it has been one of those weeks. Next week, we will put a lot of effort into finding, that'll be fun! We asked our 84 year old potential, Edie if she wanted to learn more, but she just flat out said no. It was heartbreaking, especially since she already knows so much about the church and get this, she watches conference every year!!!!!! Every 6 months, she has conference on the tele!! She said she loves the messages! It was pretty frustrating and sad and sad! We'll keep visiting her though cause we just love her tiny self so stinkin' much!

Then Thursday, we were inside for most of the day cause Sister Fellman's eyes and face were so swollen and puffy. She tried sleeping it off most of the day, while I had to try to find ways to keep myself busy. We think she had an allergic reaction to this new face lotion that she bought because her skin was also red and itchy! Yeah, I hate being in a basement all day. It really makes one grateful for the sunshine!!!

The Relief Society activity for the month was about safety! Brother Hessing, (he's a police officer) came and shared with the women some tips on how to keep safe in parking lots, when out jogging, at night, etc. It was actually pretty interesting! It was super funny though, because every time a scenario was brought up, it involved Walmart. So watch out guys, Walmart is a super sketchy place, at least in Elko! Haha!

Transfer calls are this week! That'll be weird and next transfer, I am no longer being trained, which means the chance of me getting a new companion is higher! Sad thought! Sister Fellman has seriously taught me so much and she is just an awesome missionary! I love her guts!

Not much else happened this week, it's been a slow one!! I hope to hear from ya'll soon and like the apostles told us, don't be afraid to be a missionary even without a badge!!

Love and miss ya'll!!

Sister Fish

Weekly Report - September 30

Er'body...

 

Sorry I haven't written a long weekly letter for the past couple of weeks!! We've just been busy doing the Lord's work and trying to catch up on sleep! Even when I do get enough sleep, it still seems like I am just exhausted.

Anyways so a lot has happened since the last time I wrote! I got a freakin' haircut and I have no idea what I was thinking cause now I have straight across bangs!!! It is really different and a lot of maintenance! Yeah... I don't think they are going to last long!!

Then this week, we had zone conference!! So President Hermansen came from Reno to Elko to basically call us to repentance and talk to us about how to be more effective missionaries! It was actually a really good conference! And at the beginning of each zone conference, usually a junior companion and then a senior companion each give a 5 minute talk. Well guess who one of the lucky speakers was! If you said Sister Messervy, you'd be correct!! So I had to give a 5 minute talk on "talking with everyone" which was kind of ironic because talking with everyone is something that I majorly need to work on! And also, I was so not prepared at all. But it was a really neat experience and because I was so unprepared and didn't know what I was going to say, the Holy Ghost was able to speak through me and tell all the other missionaries of the spring creek and elko zones what they needed to hear!

At zone conference we talked about how to get more member involvement in our missionary work, about the doctrine of the Godhead, and we had vehicle inspections/a training on how to drive in the snow. So at each zone conference we have a training given by President Hermansen, Elder Smigelski (the vehicle coordinator), Sister Hermansen, and the Assistants to the President (other missionaries who assist the mission president of course). It was just so good and it made me realize that I have a lot to work on to be a better missionary.

Then on Friday, we had overnight exchanges. Thursday night, I had a sleepover with Sister Anderson at the member's home where she and her companion live. Going out with the sister training leaders is a lot of fun. I was in a different area so I got to meet and teach knew people. And Sister Anderson forced me to testify at everybody's home. (I've kind of been working on talking with new people.) So it was just a really good learning experience for me. I don't know why I struggle with being myself around new people, but I do. I am just really quiet and don't know what to say!! It is sooooo FRUSTRATING! But I'm working on it, and as my testimony grows, I am getting a lot better at being able to testify about my beliefs.

Saturday was probably the best day of the week!!! We set Ryan (our 9 year old investigator) with a baptismal date!!!!! He wants to be baptized and is so ready, but is just afraid of choking on water! So save the date for October 26th (haha). We are slowly working on getting Ryan's dad ready and worthy to baptize Ryan. And it was so awesome that he took down some posters in their garage!!! I love seeing the changes that people make in their lives for Christ.

Also on Saturday, we went to our stake center and watched the General Relief Society Broadcast!! And the broadcast was amazing. I felt like it was directed to me!! We had tritip with baked potatoes, rolls, and salad for dinner afterwards. What could be better than a spiritual pickup and food!?!?!

We saw one of our investigators this morning, and she was a bit tipsy. We had an appointment scheduled which she had forgotten about. She loves it when we pray with her because she is slowly getting over her alcohol addiction and is turning to the Lord for help with that. The prayer she offered this morning was so beautiful. She was asking for Sister Fellman and I to be protected and other things. I don't know why it touched me so but it did. I am so thankful and glad to know that the people we teach love us. It is a mutual feeling, instead of us just feeling a ton of love for them. One of the funniest things, but also sweetest, she said was that we would be able to find worthy men. I wanted to laugh and cry because, finding a guy is not my focus right now, but I am so touched that she has our interests at heart. I love her to death, she is such an incredible person!!

Not much else has gone on here! I can't believe that it is already week 5 of the transfer which means that next saturday, we will get a phone call telling us where the Lord needs us to be! Time has flown by so fast!! Can you believe that it is already October?! Nutso!!!

I hope all is well at home!! Mom, have a safe trip to Nebraska and tell everyone Hello for me! And I'm glad ya'll had so much fun in Boise! I can't believe that Seth will be out on a mission, then Ross, and Preston will be out soon too!! That is just crazy! I have realized that time is a precious thing, and it is so important to enjoy each moment of life, before it passes you by, because time will pass and quickly too.

I love and miss you all so much!!!! Thank you for being such incredible examples and support to me throughout my life! I don't know what I would do without you guys!! I promise to write some snail mail today, so expect the mailbox to be full this week!!

Peace and Blessings!!

Sister Fish

Lice, that's nice!

Dear anybody and everybody...

The week started off great, we went to the Elko County Fair with a family of investigators, who had box seats for the horse racing. That was a lot of fun!!! I really wanted to get cheescake on a stick because where else can you get a piece of cake on a stick... I'll tell you where, only at the fair!! I restrained myself and settled for a sno cone instead which was equally as delicious since it was strawberry and peach flavored!!

The weather on monday was nuts though, it was pretty stormy and there were flash floods. We were on our way to dinner from the horse races when it really started to pour and seriously every street became a river. I got some cool pictures from this awesome week that I will send next week.

Then on Tuesday, we had dinner and went out for ice cream with the little boy who we are teaching and his Dad (who is a less active member). Since we've taught him a lot, we decided to do like a recap lesson and just review all that he has learned. It is awesome how much the son is remembering!! For dessert we went to an ice cream shop called Cool Beans (they do coffee and ice cream). I love it! It has some just weird and random pictures painted on the walls. It is a chill place and if I ever come back to Elko, I am going there!

This week was insane. Sister Fellman and I set pretty high standards for ourselves last week. We were starting to feel like we weren't doing all that we could to be the best missionaries we know we can be. So we've set a number on how many lessons we would like to get each week and such.

Yeah, our standards were in the toilet this week... wanna know why? (Hem, Hem, throat clearing noises) We got lice. You know those bugs that live in your hair, and just try to lay more and more eggs on top of your head?!?!! They were living on Sister Fellman and I for like a day!!! We found out this week that one of our investigators has lice and I don't think they know where it came from and we were in their home, helping them clean and touching everything!!! The night we found out was hilarious, as soon as she told us her boyfriend/fiance had lice, Sister Fellman set the blanket she was folding down and said so quickly, "It is getting dark so we better head home!" I could tell that she just wanted to book it out of there. As soon as we walked into our house, we checked each of our heads for lice, but luckily we didn't find any.

The next day, we weren't so lucky. After we had been out and about all day, and had stopped by that same investigators house to help her again, we decided it would be best to lice check our heads again. We found one egg on each of our heads. It was nasty. So the next day, we got permission from Sister Hermansen to stay home and clean. We had to clean everything!! Every inch of the Simons' basement is now sparkling. We vacuumed every inch of carpet, scrubbed the floors, used clorox wipes to clean EVERYTHING, got lice spray and sprayed a bunch of things with it, vacuumed and cleaned our car (p.s. since wednesday, we have been traveling around Elko by car!), and washed every piece of fabric (clothes, sheets, etc.)

It took us two whole days to do all that! It took two days mostly because of laundry. We were washing everything on the sanitize setting which took like 2 hours a load. We had so much to wash that we got up every two hours to change loads. And because we were cleaning and washing everything, we had to stay in the same disgusting clothes for both days. Since we were so nasty, we didn't want to sleep in our beds, we put blankets on the treadmills and slept on those!! It was so stinkin' hilarious. I have a picture of that that I will send you! After everything was cleaned, we had to wash our hair with lice killing shampoo. It was a fun couple of days. Pretty much now we are pros on knowing how to get rid of lice!

Moral of the story though, don't get lice cause it is a pain in the bum to have to clean everything to kill it so it can't keep showing up in your hair!!

Don't worry though, we are lice free and are able to leave the house now other than to go to walmart to get cleaning supplies!! Thank goodness!! Yeah it was a fun weekend that I hope never to repeat!!

Love you guys!!

Sister Fish

Faith

This week has gone by really fast. Sister Fellman and I have decided that we need to start working harder! We spend a lot of time with less actives, so they tend to just want to visit with us! So we are going to make sure that each time we visit with someone, we share a spiritual message! We are going to help the work along, just by making small changes to how we teach and serve.

This week I learned a ton about faith. I think one of the prophets said something like, "Everything you do is done with faith. Just waking up in the morning is an act of faith." Isn't that so powerful?! You just have to put your trust in the Lord, and recognize that He knows better than you, how everything will work out. If you are working towards a righteous goal, He will bless you.

Since I've been on my mission, I have discovered that if you have real faith, you act. I always thought that just saying, "I believe in God and Jesus Christ" was faith. Boy was I ever wrong. Faith is action. If you really trust in the Lord, you just act. If you trust that the Lord has a plan for you and a path already set for you to travel on, He will show you the way. You just have to be the one to step on a path. If it isn't the right path, the Lord will let you know and then you just adjust. And everything happens for a reason!! It is hard to put your trust in something you can't see though! I am working on it!
Love ya!
Sister Fish

Final August Post

Why hello there...

     I can never remember what happened each week so pretty much, I have to pull out my planner and my journal so I can let you know what is happening in my life! So you should feel pretty special that I put so much effort into writing you.
     Sister Fellman and I have decided that we are going to do our best and work our hardest to be missionaries that are worthy to be on The District videos that the church created. They are these movies that we watch as missionaries for training. In the videos, a camera basically just follows different sets of missionaries in the area they are serving. You see them plan for the day/week, in district meetings, and teaching investigators. They are actually pretty awesome movies and we do learn a lot from them.
     We found a new investigator this week! HOORAY!! She is so sweet and is married with 2 little girls. She sees the need for religion in her and her kids lives. I know that God put her in our path. This gospel will bless her life and because the family is so central to God's plan for us (his children) I think that she will be really receptive to our message.
     This week, we had exchanges. So pretty much exchanges are when you switch companions for a day with a companionship that is in a leadership position. For the sisters, we have a companion that is a Sister Training Leader. I went out with Sister Gifford and she is pretty awesome!! She heads home in December so she is full of lots of wisdom and has obviously been a missionary for a while so she is really good at teaching people. We were in her area which was lots of because I got to meet new people! It was a pretty busy day!

     There was a ward BBQ this past Friday and it was tons of fun!!! It was a good time because a lot of people came and a lot of the less actives we have been teaching were there!! It was awesome plus free food!
     And on top of an already great weekend. We had a few investigators at church!!! They came for sacrament meeting at least which is a good step in the right direction. So hopefully they will come to all of church next week especially since it is fast and testimony meeting. Getting investigators to church is a major step towards baptism/conversion. If they go to church, they are surrounded by other normal people who lead lives full of struggles and joys plus the spirit is even stronger at church and you learn so much from what others say/teach.
     So my week was pretty good!!!! I hope to hear from you guys soon and love you all as much as I love cake (which is a lot).

Love,

Sister Fish

Obedience

Obedience brings blessings, at least that's what I've heard. Haha just kidding, it really does. Sister Fellman and I this week had an experience with that, We had stayed up late talking about some things and then because of that, we slept in like way longer than 5 minutes. So the day was pretty crummy and like no one was home. We weren't able to visit like any of the people we wanted. When finally we are like "Ok, we get it, we need to strive to be more obedient." And then Sister Fellman had the idea that we should pray. We prayed to Heavenly Father to tell us what we should do and seriously like 2 minutes after that, we knocked on a door and met a family that hopefully will let us teach them the lessons. They told us to come back and that we were welcome anytime, but that they did have their own faith. So we will just keep going back and see what happens! But yeah, moral of the story, exact obedience brings miracles!!

We get our transfer calls in like 2 weeks!! Ridiculous, so who knows where I will be serving/living in september. I have a feeling I am not leaving Elko this next transfer, but it is wherever the Lord wants and needs me to be.

Serving a mission really is the best thing for individuals. It forces you out of your comfort zone like all the time, but you learn so much. We have been told that the greatest conversion to happen on a mission is within ourselves, but we cannot focus on ourselves. By converting others, and seeing the blessings the gospel brings to them, we then in turn convert ourselves. I hope Preston was listening to because even though it is kind of scary, he just needs to do it. It is really the hardest, but the best time of my life. I would never have the chance to meet any of the people I have, if I wouldn't have decided to serve. You learn how to live/be on your own and also with a companion (good marriage prep). And also you learn to rely on the Lord and the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Spider Killer

Elko is great but full of lots of gross spiders! On Monday night last week there was the biggest spider I have ever seen (in a house) and it was on our wall!! Sister Fellman and I were yelling and trying to get close enough to swat it. Pretty much, we are both terrified of those creepy crawlers! Eventually Sister Simon's (the member whose basement we live in) knocked on our door and asked us if we were okay. We told her we weren't and seriously she took one look at the spider and it was dead!!! Later in the week there was a pretty big one in the shower and I killed him! Me, the girl who runs away yelling or jumps on the bed screaming for dear life. He was gross by the way!!! So upsetting! It took me like 10 minutes to gain the courage to end its life, plus I was in my towel cause I was just going to step in and shower, but he ruined my plans!! After I said a short prayer though, he started moving closer to the door of the shower, I got mad, and hit him a million or so times, with a fly swatter. Yeah, he was real dead. The whole time I was trying to kill him, I was singing the song that goes Psycho Killer, bababababa... obviously I changed the lyrics to spider killer. 

We got some new investigators this week, which was good. It's sad though because a lot of people we teach are just struggling a ton with life and things. They live in low income housing, have kids to feed/take care of, and hospital/doctor bills to pay for. It has made me so grateful for parents who know how to manage money and who went to college so they could support a family.

Finding people to teach here is hard though. Elko is full of miners and their schedules are ridiculous. The shifts are like crazy. Some have 7 days on and then 7 days off. Others work nights for a week or a month and then switch to a month or week of day shifts. So it is hard to know when to try a certain house since you never know what the husband's schedule will be like.

So way back in the history of the church, the early saints used to do these things called cottage meetings. They would meet at a home and then have discussions/conversations on different gospel topics. Well not only did the early saints do it, but now we have one each week. It is really such an inspired idea. We have our recent converts and less active members come to a members' home and then teach them more about something. Like last week, we talked more in depth about the first vision and about how the Lord answers our prayers if we ask him and really believe that he will help us. It is nice because it is in a relaxed setting so the people there, can feel free to ask any question they want and not feel uncomfortable. So hopefully those keep going well and helping everyone to learn more about the gospel. I know I have already learned a lot from only 2 meetings.

Yesterday (sunday), I had the lovely privilege to speak in church. I was luckily considered a youth speaker though so I only had to talk for like 5 minutes. I kind of felt like I was rambling or talking in circles but everyone said it was good!!

I can't believe that I have been a missionary for a month!! Time has flown by and everyone keeps telling me it that it just goes by faster.

Sister Fish

I'm Here, I'm Here!!

Hi ya everybody! I'm here, I'm here, I'm here in... Elko?!

Well this week has been crazy!! The flight to Reno was great except for the whole time I was freaking out that the plane was going to crash and burn, even though it was packed with 30 missionaries on it!! Thank goodness the flight to Reno was only like 30 minutes long. We made it safely!! My first day here was spent learning about the mission and things pertaining to the Reno, Nevada Mission. President and Sister Hermansen are wonderful!! I love 'em so much!! So the first day, like I said was spent training. The way we (the newbies) meet our new companions here is so embarrassing, you basically strut out in front of everyone in nearby areas, stand on a blue x, and after your name and your comps name are read, wait to be claimed!! Yep, that was pretty weird! After your claimed everyone cheers and claps. It is a pretty big deal! But my first night I stayed with Sister Flores and Sister Garcia in an area close-ish to sparks since, you guessed it, the zone I am serving in is Elko! Elko is like a 4 hour drive from sparks, which we couldn't make the first night cause it was kind of late. My first night was great, we just had dinner at a members home and then visited the ward mission leader. Then the next morning I had to pack up and go to the mission home to be shipped out to Elko. It was nice though, because I slept most of the drive so I was able to catch up on some zzz's.

So I actually met my companion on Wednesday. Sister Fellman is awesome! She has an amazingly strong testimony and literally has like no fear. She comes from a big family from Alaska. She is great and has taught me a bunch so far!! We pretty much got straight to work after we went grocery shopping and put my luggage in our home. We actually live in the basement of a member family's! It is great! They are a sweet family with 3 young girls.

Pretty much time has flown by!! My P-days are on Mondays (by the way). I can't believe that I've been out in the field almost a week!! The first few days were hard because spending all day everyday, immersed in learning, teaching, and worrying about others is an adjustment! Now I've gotten used to it and I love it! I am not sure how I feel about Elko yet though. Seriously like everyone who knows where Riverton/Salt Lake is without fail, will make the comment of "Oh, So your not far from home." or "You are a long ways from home" (in a voice full of sarcasm). It is pretty funny but is starting to get on my nerves! Funny story though that has helped me realize that serving in Nevada isn't such a bad thing is that in Institute we were talking about the Savior's ministry. Ironically I wrote a thought that I think I had had from that lesson and put it in my scriptures. The thought goes something along the lines of... "Christ's ministry was so central to his place of birth. So be okay with wherever you are called." How crazy is that?!?! The Lord knew that Nevada is where I need to be and had prompted me to write that down! Now I feel lots better about my call to Reno, Nevada. (Not that I didn't before, but this has helped me to realize even more so that this place is where the Lord wants me to be).

The work here is just going along! We do a lot of work with less actives, which is interesting because in the MTC, you don't really focus on that, you focus more on people wanting to learn about the church. So that has definitely been a learning experience. Pretty much everything I learn and do out here is kind of on the fly. I seriously never realized how much missionary is done by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost! I love that about being a missionary because it totally strengthens my testimony that this is truly the Lord's church and His work, so we find and teach people how he wants! We just got a new investigator and she is so ready for baptism even if she doesn't know it yet!

The members here are AMAZING!! They love the missionaries! They are so loving and welcoming it is awesome! Saturday night was one of my favorite nights here. We went to a member's home for dinner and everything was green. We had green enchiladas (with green tortillas and green filling), green rice, green water, green juice, green soda, and green ice cream! Even the cups and plates were green! It was hilarious once I understood why everything was green! I am the greenie, greenhorn, whatever the newest missionaries are called!! I now feel like I am a part of the club.

So far, I have not had to make myself dinner!! We eat at a member's home every night of the week!! So here is my challenge to you, invite the missionaries over for dinner, if there are still missionaries serving in our ward. Have them over and let them share a spiritual message with you! We love doing that! Now our calling is not only to bring people into the Church and closer to Christ, but to strengthen the ward, to help the members! So do that for me please because I get fed so well each and every night! Sometimes it is awkward and weird but just ask them a lot of questions about where they are from, how long they've been out, how the work is going in the area, and you will have lots to talk about!! ( Sorry about the challenge, but I've got to practice inviting people to do things because that is like all we do as missionaries, so I've got to get used to it).

First Days in the MTC

So pretty much the first night you get here you are definately already teaching, but thank goodness it wasn't just in companionships. They put you in a big room full of other new missionaries and we all talk with/ teach an investigator. It was quite intimidating especially since some people seem so spiritually ahead than you. But that's alright because the Lord will give me strength and help my understanding to grow. Anyways, so you also have an instructor on the first night and man was ours mighty fine! He was from France so of course he had an accent and he was tall dark and handsome. Don't worry I promise I am focused on the work!

I also ran into Shalyse, Sister Scadlock litterally like 10 minutes after I walked into the MTC!! It was the best thing that could've happened to me that day! She is doing well and has given me all the secrets to this place! Later in the day I ran into some other people I know from school! It is amazing to see all these people I know accepting God's call to action!!

I can't believe that I have been here a week and since today is Wednesday, this will be the only p-day I have in the MTC. Kind of a bummer, but having all the other days to learn is pretty much fantastic because seriously there is so much to learn. I honestly would feel so unprepared if I hadn't read through most of Preach My Gospel before I came. Everything here is fast and furious. You barely have any time to study anything but the lessons that you feel your investigators need. So Preston, word of advice, start studying or at least reading through Preach My Gospel now. It will help you so much and you won't feel overwhelmed.

My companion is Sister Anderson! She is from Georgia and went to school at BYU last year. She is 19 just like me and she is pretty great! She is very intuned with the spirit and the needs of our investigators. We are also both headed to Reno!!! It is funny how in these circumstances you become friends with people you normally wouldn't in normal life. But she can kind of get on my nerves a little in all honesty. I think that is mostly because I am so used to doing things alone and not having to converse with someone about what I think or what I want to do. Which is probably a pretty good learning experience for me. I actually have to make decisions now!! I can't just be like eh, whatever you want to do is fine. I have to have an opinion about everything. Like what do you want to do during gym today. So weird.

The Elders and Sisters in my district have become like my little family here! Seriously they are the best! I have some pictures that I will try and send you when I am out in the field. (The computers here kind of stink). Sister Coy is 27 and she is the mom of the group since she's got a lot of life experience behind her! Elder Whipple and Bunch are probably my favorite elders. They are just so sweet and funny! It is funny how some elders and sisters don't talk to people of the opposite gender because they are afraid of flirting cause that is obviously a big no no here. I'm pretty sure all of us were kind of like that on our first day.

Earlier in this letter I said something about investigators... here our teachers during part of class time play the role of an investigator, and we have to do the whole shabang and knock on the door, let them invite us in, and teach!! It is crazy. The 2nd week here, you get an actor playing an investigator which is a lot easier to take more seriously than teaching your teacher. It is really nerve racking because everything should be done by the spirit and if you don't have the spirit with you, there is no way you are going to be able to help your investigators understand what your purpose there is.

I feel like I've learned a lot so far and I am already a different person. It is amazing what the Lord can do with those who just give their lives over to him!

Well I love you guys and miss ya tons!!!

Sister Fish

Tomorrow is the Day

    Wow, time has flown by way fast! I can't believe that I head to the MTC tomorrow! It's finally here and I still don't feel ready, but I know that with the Lord's help I will be!! Seeing as how I leave tomorrow I figured it is probably time I post my addresses.

I will be in the Provo MTC until July 23rd and my address while there is...

                 Sister Felicia Messervy

                 JUL23 NV-RNO

                 2013 N 900 E Unit 351

                 Provo, UT 84602

And when I am in Reno you can send mail to...

     

   Sister Felicia Messervy

   Nevada Reno Mission

   1146 Prater Way

   Sparks, NV 89431

Or if you don't feel like sending mail the old fashioned way, you can email me at felicia.messervy@myldsmail.com

                             I hope to hear from y'all soon!
                                               Felicia

First Time Temple Goer

      On June 8th I had one of the most best experiences of my life! Going through the temple to do your own work is an amazing experience!! The Oquirrh Mountain Temple in Utah, was seriously so beautiful!

        It's funny how no one really talks about what goes on inside temples other than marriages/sealings and baptisms for the dead and everything else is kept kind of  behind closed doors. The reason for this is because the work done in temples is sacred, not secret. So because it is so sacred it is kept a secret. Get it? I had no idea what to expect for my first time. I was so nervous but so very very excited. The temple is such a beautiful place and I have such a testimony that temple work does allow families to be together throughout eternity! It is a very different experience, but I went in with a somewhat open mind. Honestly though, I did have the thought that I can totally understand why some people believe we are a cult. But we are not and the feelings of the spirit were so strong and warm, that I knew that what I was seeing/experiencing was so right and I am so thankful for the people who were there to help me and support me!!! I am so grateful that as a missionary, I get to have those extra blessings from the temple as  I serve the Lord in Reno!

                               Temple Expert, Almost,

                                                         Felicia

Mission Prep

     Recently I have discovered something that I'm sure no one would have guessed... getting ready for a mission is HARD. Especially if you are a sister! Looking for skirts that fall below your knees when sitting, right when summer fashions have hit the stores, is sooooo ridiculous. Thank goodness for my new best friend, online shopping!! I love finding deals online and practically waiting on your doorstep for that package, with your name on it. It is just like Christmas! The stores where I found my most favorite skirts were asos and modcloth. Both can be somewhat expensive, but if you look when they have a sale... they are a shoppers heaven!
    So, side note, I've always wanted to be one of those really insightful people. You know the type who seem to always find something to learn from their life mishaps. They are reflective and ponder about how an action lead to a reaction, and what to take from that experience or story. I've never been the type, my life just happens and a story is just a story. I'd like to take this moment to be one of those smart, learn from everything people. Getting ready for my mission has taught me a lot about patience, not being worldly, and that the best things in life, aren't found right away, they come after lots of hours of searching or work. Truly preparing to serve, shows the Lord that you are obedient, and that you will learn as much as you can so He can use you as His mouthpiece to share the gospel with His precious children.

      Hooray for 6 more weeks of preparation!!
                                       Felicia

    

Called to Serve

    The night before I opened my mission call, I had placed the envelope holding my future underneath my mattress. I was hoping that somehow by sleeping on it, my dreams would absorb the place where I would be serving. Well, all I can say is that I have proven that theory to be a myth.
     I opened my call on Friday, May 3rd in front of family and friends. It is quiet an experience, reading a piece of paper that is going to guide your life for the next 2ish years. So of course, I was nervous, my stomach was in knots and I could hardly read the words on the page. Immediately after reading the words though, RENO NEVADA MISSION, I felt such amazing peace. I knew that that is where the Lord wants me at this time and there is some person or people that I can share the Good News of Christ to. I am so excited to serve and very grateful for the opportunity!!!!
             
                                     So stoked,
                                          Felicia