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

Out the Window

     Hello, Hey, Hi, Hola, 

So this has been a crazy transfer! It has been so long... but quick all at the same time! A lot happened in such a short time. At the beginning of the transfer, we had a trio of Elders in our ward and then in the 4th week, Sister Sheppard and I took over the whole ward again! It has been a lot of work, but it's been great fun!!! 

The verdict on transfers is (L O N G  D R A M A T I C  P A U S E) I am staying in the Highland Ranch ward in Sparks for another transfer! And on a really sad note, Sister Sheppard is no longer my companion. She ships off to Ely Wednesday morning. I am so sad. We have gotten way close, but the Lord has his reasons. My new companion is Sister Knight! I'll have to send you a pic next week when I even know who she is!

Sebastian decided that he wants to be baptized this week!! And since he's been coming to church, we are having the service on Saturday June 28th!! It'll be crazy fun! We are so excited! He just can't wait! 

We've been meeting with a lot of less actives this week and going through the ward list to see if any of them are interested in coming back to church. Pretty much like none of them are. It is super depressing!! But funny stories do come out of it....

At one house this lady answers the door with a mouthful of food and proceeds to tell us that they've told missionaries to quit stopping by (insert spray of tuna?) they aren't interested anymore (more food out the mouth). It was pretty gross. 

Another time, we were trying to find a man named Mike so we tried the address that we were given for him. This woman answers the door and tells us that she had a renter there like 9 years ago whose name was Mike, but that he was no longer there. We then invite her to learn more about the Restored Gospel and how it can help and bless her. She really wanted to argue with us so we just testified to her of what we know to be true. At the end, she asks for our names, we give them to her. Just as soon as she has our names, she states, "I'll be praying for you." A bit before that she told us that those who preach false doctrine will be under condemnation....

So it's been a pretty good week with lots of good things happening! I love and miss you all like crazy! Let me know how everything is going with your summer fun!! I can't believe that in a month, I will only have 6 months left!! Where has the time gone? oh that's right, straight out the window! 

           Much love and lots o' hugs!!

                     Sister Fish

 

 

 

 

 

Drama, drama, drama.....

Hello my loved ones...

  

It is getting so ridiculously HOT!! Seriously, I am starting to believe what they say about Reno and Sparks, "Reno is so close to Hell, you can see Sparks." Yep it is that hot out, and it is only June.

So this was a week full of drama. The other set of missionaries in our ward, the Elders, were pulled out. There are now serving in another ward in the stake. So we have the lovely privilege of covering all of the ward. There is seriously so much to do, and not enough time to do it. I really wish there was a magic pill that would cure everything. I think I don't even know how to relax anymore. It is great though, life is good!!

Sister Healy is a recent convert who we have been working with! She was baptized in December of last year and we are going to the temple with her this Wednesday!!!  Sister Healy received a limited use recommend for the temple this Sunday. We will be going with her to do baptisms for the dead and we could not be more excited. After the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference, she knew that she wanted/needed to go this week. We are so happy to see her making those next steps to the temple since that is the goal! It is amazing to see her love for the gospel and her fire of conversion burning bright. She loves the Lord and loves His gospel. The testimony she bore last Sunday was incredible. She is so happy and is already sharing that happiness with others. She wants everyone to be Mormon. We love her to bits and pieces!!!

Not much else is happening. It was a pretty slow week. We are just trying to figure out and plan how to work within a whole ward! I haven't done that yet in my mission. I've only ever had half! It is exciting, but overwhelming all at the same time.

This last weekend was Stake Conference and it was an incredible meeting. Elder Hansen, the area seventy came and spoke. The temple president and his wife also spoke, so did President and Sister Hermansen. Seriously amazing. I learned so much from their inspired counsel. 

Something that President Hermansen said really stuck out to me. He was talking about the Restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. When Heavenly Father spoke, the first words He said in this dispensation was calling Joseph by name. He knows us intimately. He knows our strengths and weaknesses, He loves us. He is a loving Father in Heaven. 

Also we need to trust the spirit more. Whenever we have a generous thought, we need to act on it. Good and righteous actions that come into our mind are from the Spirit. So don't supress those thoughts! Just act on them without questioning it! Pray for Charity! Love everyone. Talk with everyone. Remember that everyone needs the gospel that we have, even if they don't recognize that they do!!

I love you all so much! I pray always that you are coming closer to Christ. I miss you all more than the mountains!! 

 Sister Fish

This is Sister Healy and her kids. We went bowling with them for her son's birthday!!! 

This is the Harding's!! They are the family that had us over to skype on mother's day!! 

JUNE!!!!! NO WAY!!

OH my goodness... can you believe that it is June already! I can't! That just amazes me! In a month, I will have been a missionary for one whole year!! Where in the heck has the time gone!! It is lost somewhere!

Well this week was interesting! There is a lot of interesting dynamics going on with the ward we are serving in and missionary work... it is lots of drama and kind of crazy. I am hoping that it all works out for the best! Of course, it will work out how Heavenly Father wants it too. Everything is in His hands.

We met with a part member family this week and found out that the daughter doesn't even believe in God. She is a very logical thinker, very smart, and realistic. We are trying to show her that God is real in a very logical way! Should be interesting! 

We had dinner with a less active this Saturday and we made washer necklaces with her after. They aren't finished quite yet, once they are, I'll send you a picture! She is seriously the craftiest person ever. Her kitchen cabinets instead of being full of kitcheny things, are full of crafting supplies!! haha! She's just the cutest!

Fast Sunday was amazing! Many of the testimonies were on how members are trying to do missionary work! I wanted to cry, I was so happy! It is exciting to hear that ward members are not only praying for those opportunities, but they are acting when they arise! Our recent convert, Rita amazes me! She is so missionary minded!! She calls it recruiting! And when she does missionary work, she is getting her "CK (celestial kingdom) punch card filled." Rita is always asking us if we've found any recruits! Love her! She is on fire, already bringing others to the gospel of Jesus Christ!

On Sunday, after church, we helped a less active clean her pond that was full of moss!! It was pretty gross!! Reminded me that I never want a pond! I'll send you a picture of us in our cute outfits, maybe not so cute! She was so sweet and let us bore some pants and hats! haha!

I love this work and I love the Lord! Stay strong and of a good courage!!

            LOVE YA MORE THAN PEACHES AND CREAM!!

                      Sister Fish

Juan has been a member for 1 year and he just got his mission call to the denver south mission

us crafting!!

 

That's us going to work in the pond!! haha!