July's last post! Already?

Your trip to the Redwoods sounds like soooo much fun!!! Seriously.. I miss vacations. Is that weird?!? haha. So there may be a lot in my future!! I can't believe how big those trees are. Actually, I can't believe trees exist! 

This last week was kind of crazy and a bit of an emotional roller coaster, but we made it through!!

This week was great! We spent a lot of time with our favorite family, the Healy's!! We are helping them to get into the habit of building their testimonies daily, by reading the scriptures and praying together as a family. I love them! They have thrown themselves into this gospel head first and want to know everything about the church. I am so excited for their family and for the blessings that the gospel will continue to bring them!

Pat is continuing to progress. He is changing for the better and it is so exciting to see. He was at church (2nd week in a row!) in a white shirt and tie. We taught him once again about the restoration and it was such a different lesson. I don't think we were teaching the same person. He was so much more humble and willing to listen and didn't go off on crazy tangents. Then yesterday he asked for more moral support from us by attending this thing with him. I can't wait till he is baptized!!

We were on exchanges all day Friday! And I just have to say that I love Sister Sweany! Seriously, I was able to learn so much from her and we were able to just help each other a lot! It was a really great day! And the spirit was just so strong! 

Sunday evening we were able to teach a youth fireside in the home of a member of the bishopric. We had the youth role play answering questions about what we believe that their friends might pose to them. It was so fun!! I hope the youth enjoyed it too and felt the spirit of missionary work! 

I am so continually grateful for this gospel and for the love that our Lord and Savior has for us!!! I love you guys and am so thankful for your love and support! I hope you guys have a great week!! 

                           Sister Fish

And I know just why I like the rain .....

I hope you got the song reference in my subject line! And I sure hope that is the song you were playing as you drove through, since that's my favorite one and all! It has been raining like all weekend! Was I really called to Nevada or am I in Oregon? haha! It is really good though because we are in a serious drought. I've missed the rain and I am so happy that it is here to stay for a bit. The thunderstorms have been pretty awesome and there have even been a few dust storms!! The weather is crazy and the wind never stops here. Should Chicago have the title of windy city or should Sparks? Right now it seems pretty debatable!

This has been a really great week! Pat is taking huge steps to be baptized. We met with him almost everyday this week! It was great! Friday evening, he called us to see if we knew how to cut hair. We told him that "for you we do!" Seriously his mane was getting pretty mangy. We were cutting his hair outside and the wind started to pick up. Hair was flying everywhere, it was kind of gross. Pat looks like a totally different person now.After we left, he shaved too!! Then on Saturday night, he and his brother came to a baptism. Pat told us that his heart was fluttering! He could feel the spirit!! And Pat was even able to come to church on Sunday! We are seriously so excited to see the progress he is making! He is taking much bigger steps towards baptism now!! 

Wednesday, we met Mike and Marty. Mike is terminally ill from brain cancer and is not completely coherent all the time. He is getting some stubs to grow on his head, but is as skinny as a rail. As we were talking with him, he would sometimes be there, but other times be chatting with someone the rest of us couldn't see. His friend Marty cares for him 24/7. He gave up everything. He sold his home, business, motorcycle, etc., and moved to Sparks to take care of his best friend. It was amazing to see the love that Marty had for Mike, it was definitely the closest to Christlike love that I have ever seen.

Mike kept asking when they were going to a place, but they hadn't made any plans to go anywhere. Marty had to keep telling Mike that they'd leave soon, even though they never would. How hard would that be to live in 2 different realities. 1. the reality that your friend is going to die and having to take care of everything for him while 2. having to pretend for him so he doesn't get upset and to keep him happy at the end of his life. A few times, Marty had to walk out of the room and compose himself. I looked out into the hall and saw him weeping those times, but in the room he was strong for Mike. 

As we offered a prayer with Mike, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or to weep. As I was talking to God, Mike kept interjecting, "sounds great", "that's great." We left in tears, but with the faith in our hearts that Mike will rest once he leaves his ill body. Watching how Marty cared for Mike really made me think about if I would show that kind of love for a friend, or even a stranger. I pray that each of us will strive to show more love for the people around us, because they truly are our brothers and sisters. We are all children of God. 

Those are just a few highlights from the week! I hope everything is good and that everyone is doing well! I love and miss you oodles and oodles!

              Love.

             Sister Fish

Miracle Week?

To all the most wonderful people in the whole wide world......

It has been a week of miracles seriously!! We have done a lot this week and there is still so much more to do! The Lord's work is never ending that is for sure! 

On Tuesday, we met with a part member family in our ward. I am not sure if I already wrote this or not, but we found them coming out of Rita's one day and were able to set a return appointment. So we went back, established expectations for our visits, got to know them, and answered questions! Their kids are the best! They are so attentive and listen and really ask some great questions! We met with them again on Thursday to talk about the Book of Mormon and what it is! It is a record, much like the Bible, another testament that Jesus is the Christ. We went over the introduction with them and explained what it was saying. 

Right after that appointment, we booked it over to another one! Thank goodness it was only a few streets over. A Bishop here in Sparks invited some friends to learn more about what we believe. So we met with them and talked a little about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked about why there are so many churches and how we can know which is Christ's church, with all of His teachings in it. She was so excited and everything seemed to make sense. It was amazing!! Thank goodness for wonderful members who fulfill their covenants to share the gospel!! We are hopefully going to see them again this week!! 

Sister Knight also got her first taste of the M. brothers. We recommitted Pat to baptism and hopefully everything works out so he will be able to be baptized on July 26th.

We've received a ton of referrals lately and have been contacting them like crazy!!! It's been awesome!! 

The Fourth of July was great!! We still had to be out and about doing missionary work, but we were able to see the fireworks!! We met with Deby that morning and invited her to church. Her family dynamic is a bit different so getting to church is kind of difficult, but it sounds like they are going to try to be there next week!! 

Then around dinner time, we went to the Nugget with Rita. We sat outside, with everyone else and their dog!! Seriously so many people were there eating food and enjoying the company of friends and family. So we had dinner there and watched the firework show. Our President gave us permission to be out late to watch them, but the show didn't start on time because it was soooo windy! We waited for forever!! We went to bed by 1 in the morning!! I was so tired on Saturday morning!! I could hardly function! It's so funny how I used to be such a night owl and now I have to be in bed by 10:30 pm or else I'm exhausted! haha :) 

Saturday morning, we had breakfast at the Stake President's home and had a little devotional given by him and a high councilman. It was great!!! Then Sunday we had Family Home Evening (FHE) with Rita and her kids!! Lauren taught the lesson and it was amazing!!!! She did everything for it. She taught the lesson and assigned people to pray and even picked the hymns for it!! Love her! She is so stinking cute!!

It was a great week!! I can't believe that I have been a missionary for a year in like 3 days!!! That is so crazy! Where has the time gone!!! I love and miss you all, hope you had a wonderful 4th of July! It sounds like it was a blast!!! 

 Much love and lots of hugs!!
             Sister Fish 

Temple & Slurpees?

Stopped by for a slurpee on 7/11

Temple trip!!  The sisters of my zone at the temple!!

Just another Manic Monday!

Haha... don't worry mom I totally got your musical reference! It may be old, but it's a good one! Sorry I stole your subject line! :)

So last week was great! On Monday we just hung out at our apartment complex. It was nice and relaxing. We played some pool, wrote some letters. Good Monday! We started to finish the lessons for Benji so he would be completely ready for his baptism on Saturday. Thank goodness we were able to finish them in time! haha.

Tuesday was weird because it was Sister Sheppard's last full day here in Sparks. She is now in Ely. She went from the big city to the middle of nowhere! I hope she is loving it!! We went over and helped Cam pack his bags for trek! He got home on Saturday and he loved it! We were so excited! Rita showed us a picture of him in his outfit. Cutest pioneer ever! While we were helping to pack his bucket, we shared some pioneer stories to get him excited to go and walk all day everyday!

I dropped off Sister Sheppard at the mission office, where the transfer van was waiting, early in the morning. Then I got to spend the whole day with the YSA sisters. It was weird, because we were in my area the whole time, but we were looking for young single adults! Then at 7 in the evening, I got my new companion, Sister Knight!

I am so grateful that the Lord is a part of His work. We were able to find so many potential investigators this week, just by talking with everyone! The Lord does place people in our paths. We are so excited to see what happens in the next few weeks with the people that we've met.

Saturday was the best day because Benji was baptized!! It was sooo fun too cause the Elders were able to come and be a part of it too! Benji was so happy! I don't think he stopped smiling that whole day! He was so excited to be baptized!

I love this gospel! I am so excited to be out serving the Lord. To be teaching the people of Sparks, NV about His gospel! I love you all and pray for you often!! You are the best support a girl could ask for! Love ya lots!

                               Sister Fish