Five Months Out Tomorrow!

Its crazy to think that I've already been out on my mission 5 months. Then I look at Sister Jones and think... that will be me sooner than I think! She's freaking out a bit about going home. As in, she doesn't want to AT ALL. She would much rather stay here and continue being a missionary for the rest of her life. But, alas, she knows that her time here is up. :( I'm really gonna miss her.

Monday: We carved pumpkins with the Mitchell's after dinner, and Paige was my helper! We did a pretty good job. It was a fun little game we played, actually. We started out in teams and grabbed a pumpkin. We cleaned it out, then set it back in the middle. Then we all pulled something out with instructions on it (ex: carve an eye! or carve the mouth!) and grabbed a different pumpkin. We kept rotating the pumpkins and carving different parts. They looked very cute and thrown together at the end. Paige was on my team, and we got very good at carving eyes and noses!

Tuesday: So, remember how I said I got sick on Sunday night? Well, if you don't... I did! I was still a bit sick on Monday, but by the evening I was feeling much better. I jokingly told Sister Paddock and Sister Jones that they were next.
One should never joke about such things.
And it came to pass that Sister Paddock got way sick on Tuesday. Because she felt so awful, we decided we'd better stay in until she felt better. We knew it would help her feel better faster, and we also knew that going out and doing missionary work would be unproductive when she felt like she might throw up any minute. Stomach bugs are not fun! Anyways, since we were stuck in our apartment, I studied. I read the Book of Mormon- in English and in Portuguese- and wrote in my journal, and read some more scriptures and did some things in Preach My Gospel, and read some more scriptures, and wrote a letter, and read some scriptures, and wrote in my journal. Finally an idea popped into my head! President said it was okay for me to occasionally contact Derrick to help him and encourage him. So I decided to send him a quick text! I just let him know that I still pray for him and his family, and that I hoped he was still doing well. He said, and I quote, "Thank u I need it. I am doing so good and I know this church is true!! Happy belated birthday!"
That made my day, and I felt soooo happy when I read that! I replied, saying that I was glad his testimony was so strong and asked when he was planning to get baptized. He said, it make some time because Chera and I have to get married first.  But, I attend church every week and I even started paying tithes so I'm staying active!"
It made me SOOOO happy that he is going to church every week AND paying tithing! Here's how the rest of the short conversation went;
Me: Gotcha. Thats fine because Heavenly Father will sure help y'all out :) everything will work out when its supposed to. I'm so happy that you're going to church and paying tithing even though you haven't been baptized yet! Heavenly Father will bless you extra for doing that. Does Chera want to get baptized too now?
Derrick: Yes!!! I'm so happy! Heavenly Father is really blessing me
Me: That's so awesome! I'm so happy for y'all! Heavenly Father really is blessing you for trying your best to choose the right. Goodness I'm so happy right now!
Derrick: Thank u for all your help. miss u.
Me: You're welcome :) I'm glad I could help somehow. miss ya too
Derrick:  :)
That conversation via text made my whole day! Seriously, it felt so good to read that and to know I really did make a difference in someone's life! I really, strongly feel like Derrick was one of the main reasons I needed to come to Texas. Even though... I didn't really do anything. I just gave him some info, and Heavenly Father and His Spirit did the rest. I guess Heavenly Father knew that we would understand each other, and that somehow I would be able to help him. I just feel so blessed that he gave me that opportunity.

Wednesday: Lo and behold, Sister Jones got sick and Sister Paddock stayed sick for today! I got a little stir crazy, sitting in the apartment again... studying my brains out, cleaning because it was something different, and furiously writing in my journal, reading President's emails that we've printed out, reading basically anything in the apartment, reading old letters, reading scriptures, etc. :P Let's just say... it was frustrating to not do anything. But it was best because towards the end of the day, they were both feeling a bit better. Thank goodness! We were able to go to Mary's for dinner and share a nice scripture with her. She is so humble and helpful. I love her so much. She asked us to help her clean out her gutters this Wednesday, so I'll let you know how that goes!

Thursday: Happy Halloween!!
Imagine my extreme excitement as this unfolds... Sister Shell wakes up, her companions are feeling better, she's super excited to finally get out of the apartment and do something fabulous today, she looks at what day it is... and her hopes plummet because she realizes that its weekly planning day and that they will be inside the apartment yet again for several hours. Just... just picture that.
Anyways, we went and dropped off a small talk about Patriarchal Blessings for Dan and Margaret and chatted with them for a few minutes. They were very grateful that we brought it over and were excited to read it and prepare some more for Sunday. After that, we went over to Jenn's for a "Halloween-o" dinner. We had "mummies" (aka hot dogs in crescent rolls), "eye balls" (frozen grapes), "albino bat wings and zombie guts" (chips and salsa) and "worms and dirt" (pudding and jello worms). It was pretty fun. We had to be in by 6:30 that night, so we borrowed Ephraim's Rescue from the Mitchells- a church movie that kind of goes with 17 Miracles. So we watched that when we got home. Needless to say, my eyes were a bit wet, and Sister Jones was bawling. Sister Paddock didn't cry. I didn't either, but my eyes did glisten. Still, it is such a very touching movie and I really loved watching it. Its inspiring what the Pioneer saints went through.

Happy Halloween, Sister Shell and Sister Jones

Friday: Zone Meeting! That was pretty fun. It was all about how to find people. We did some great scenarios for contacting people. Of course, they chose me and a sister named Sister Newhouse to go up and try to street contact Elder Hill, who was told that he was "a guy on campus, walking around and messing with his phone, and listening to music through headphones." Yeah, that was pretty interesting. The first time, Sister Newhouse may or may not have body checked him in an attempt to try and bump into him to start a conversation. Everyone laughed and we started over. This time, I just stepped right in front of him and asked him what he was listening to. He said that it was rap, and I asked if he ever listened to Christian rap. Long story short, of course he said we could stop by later and tell him more about the church and that was that. I'm just saying... it was rough for me, because I felt super awkward doing that. Oh well! It was also a bit frustrating to me because... okay so our zone only has 2 districts. The other district is all around A&M campus. So they have lots of opportunities to street contact and talk to everyone and stuff. But us out in Caldwell... well, we're in Caldwell. And our town is tiny, and not many people just go traipsing about the town. I was being a bit.... I can't think of the right word, but lets just go with negative. Because... well, how can this apply when we never have those scenarios way out in the boonies? It just doesn't happen.
Once again, Heavenly Father humbled Sister Shell! That night, we stopped by Judy's to teach her. She hadn't read any in the Book of Mormon, so we read all the introduction stuff with her to help explain it to her. Then we committed her to reading the 1st chapter this week, since she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. We walked outside,and a cute old man was out inspecting his grass, so we went up and talked to him. Good thing we'd practiced street contacting earlier! He walked away before we could really talk about religion, but I'm sure we'll see him again since we are always trying to stop by Judy's house.
Then... well, back up a bit. Before our lesson with Judy, we saw her next door neighbor outside, and I had this totally random thought; "If she's still outside when we get done at Judy's, we should talk to her!"
Fast forward. We got done at Judy's and just finished talking to the old man, and she's still outside. We got into Antonio just as I was thinking that we should go talk to her, and then Sister Paddock suggested it out loud. Sister Jones asked if that would be weird, since we'd have to traipse through her yard to the side of her house where she was sitting on some porch steps. But I said "We already look weird!" and Sister Paddock said, "Well, we're already here." and Sister Jones said, "Why the heck not, everyone deserves to be invited!" So, there we went, directly charging through her yard to where she was sitting on the steps. Sis Jones felt prompted to ask her about her huge, beautiful house. The lady started talking about her 108 yo house that is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Then her phone rang. We felt awkward but stayed. She got off, apologized and told us to wait a minute while she made one more quick phone call.  Then, when she was done, she told us more about her house and offered to give us a TOUR of the inside! Of course, we said yes! They've still got a lot of renovating to do on the upstairs, but its absolutely beautiful. We offered our help if she ever needed some more man power... well, woman power.. and gave her our number, conveniently written on a mormon.org card. She said she'd call us soon, as she's planning on staining the upstairs wood floors soon, and told us her name was Dawn.
It was really neat, and I laughed at myself for having such a bad attitude at Zone Meeting earlier.. Clearly we DO randomly contact people here in Caldwell! It was a pretty good experience for me :)
Then we went over to the Arellano's for dinner. We got to know Brother Arellano a bit better, and found out he's really been struggling the past few months and hasn't come to church since the beginning of the summer. We had a really good talk with him, and for some reason I felt prompted to tell him to watch Elder Holland's talk from the most recent General Conference. He said he would that night, and that he would come to church on Sunday.

Saturday: We went and visited the Farmers for a while, and met their home help lady! I can't remember her name... but she seems like a very lovely person. I really love Sister Farmer. Shes' so sweet and nice to us. I feel bad that they're just so sick. I can't really figure out how to help them right now. After that long visit, we helped Jenn deliver a cake. That was pretty fun, as her girls in the van were very entertaining. Except for Samara, who was, in fact, asleep the whole time despite the squealing and shrieking of her older sisters :P Then we went over to the Gambles and chatted, and ate dinner. It got dark pretty early so we were unable to do a whole lot of service this week there. This week we'll have to go earlier!

Sunday: Daylight savings!! EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP! Halleluyer! It was a really great Fast Sunday. We had a total of 37 people at church. Y'all don't understand- thats HUGE for us!!! AND as we started to sing the opening hymn, Bro Arellano walked in and sat down in the back!!! Halleluyer!! It made me so happy. We heard some really awesome testimonies, and all of the missionaries got up to bear ours. It was Sister Jones' last Fast Sunday in the mission. Her testimony was beautiful. Dan and Margaret got up and bore theirs too, and I felt so happy for them and proud of them. They talked about how grateful they were to the members and the missionaries who have helped them so much, and how excited they were to get their Patriarchal Blessings that night. Then, at the last second, Bro Arellano got up and bore his testimony!! What a FABULOUS day it was for me! I felt the Spirit so strongly. Even though Bro Arellano left after sacrament meeting, it was a step in the right direction for him and I was just so happy for him and his family. I'm so proud he got the courage to stand up and do that, because I know it must have been difficult for him to do so after all these months.
That afternoon, we went to a little get together at the Arellano's with the Gambles and had some yummy dinner, and talked. We left and tried to go visit Dan and Margaret to see how last night went for them, but no luck. I'll let you know how they felt about everything next week! Then we stopped by the Mitchell's since we were in the area. They're such wonderful people, and Jenn always knows how to make us laugh. What a good way to end the week!

Sister Shell and some of the primary children at church.

Even though this week was a little difficult for me, I still love what I'm doing. Its amazing that Heavenly Father is blessing me with this opportunity. I just feel such... love and happiness, and peace all the time.

This church is true. I know it.
I love being a missionary!!!

love y'all tons!!!
Sister Shell

Sister Shell her caption said "Just how I feel sometimes"

Officially old!! Well, oldER....

First off, let me just say that I officially have the best family and friends EVER! Y'all rock. You made my birthday awesome. Thanks for sending the love my way, and thank you so much for the presents I was lucky enough to receive. It was awesome. Lets just say, many missionaries were jealous of the love I got, and also super impressed that I didn't open anything until it was actually my birthday.
Y'ALL ROCK!

Tuesday: Zone Conference! And let me just say, it was amazing. We talked about so many wonderful things. President Pingree focused a lot on how to find people to teach, and gave some really cool insights. He also talked to us about the importance of the doctrine of the Godhead, especially in our mission where a lot of people don't really understand that Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost are 3 separate, distinct people. It was really amazing. We also learned some ASL so that we can maybe help the ASL missionaries find some people to teach! Who knew I'd be learning so many different languages for my mission? Anyways, Sister Jones did a beautiful piano musical number. And let's just say, I was a boss page turner. If I do say so myself. Then, we had departing testimonies- also known as "dying" testimonies- which is where all the missionaries who are leaving before the next Zone Conference get up and bear their testimony, and give advice and say things they learned on their missions. Sister Jones was the first one up, and she was amazing. Its so neat to hear the more experienced missionaries share what they know. After that, we sang This is the Christ as our closing song. Sister Jones couldn't really sing along for it. I barely made it through. There's just something about a bunch of missionaries singing that song as best they can, and with such apparent love for the Savior, and especially when you're sitting next to an awesome companion that's leaving you soon... The Spirit was really strong.

Wednesday: Was fabulous! We had an awesome lesson on the Evangelho de Jesus Christo- aka, the Gospel of Jesus Christ- with Marsha! She asked some very good questions and our answers made a lot of sense to her. She still wants to be baptized, but doesn't know when we can meet with her next because of her super busy schedule. Have I mentioned that she's one crazy busy vet? Because she is. And she's amazing. I don't think I'll be here to see her get baptized, but that's okay. Its enough for me to know that we've started her on the path, to know that we've helped her grow closer to the Savior.
Oh, and Marsha has some pretty adorable dogs. She has an Australian shepherd puppy named Junior- after her dog, his dad, who she had to put down. And she also has Junior's mom. They are so adorable. As soon as I squatted down to Junior's level, he was all over me, licking my face and hands and probably thinking "I LOVE THE MISSIONARIES!" Marsha warned that Junior's mom probably wouldn't come over and let us pet her. She was a bit hesitant with me at first, but I held out one hand as I petted Junior, and when she saw Junior super friendly and loving, she sniffed my hand and licked it. Then, not that much later, she was right up next to me, letting me pet her as well. It was fun to be able to be around really loving dogs again! Shoutout to Scooter- the best dog in the whole world!
After the awesome lesson, we went and did some service at Rex and Diane's. They have a gorgeous gazebo area that needed some fixing up, so we volunteered. After all, what are missionaries for?? It was a beautiful day, amazing weather and I loved it. So fun! Then we had dinner at Mary's. She's such an amazing person. I seriously cannot believe she's only been a member for 2 years. She knows so much, is the branch Relief Society President, and works at the temple every Friday. Talk about superwoman!
Then, we went and introduced ourselves to the new family that moved into the branch- the Crawfords! Let me just tell you, I'm pretty sure they doubled the size of our ward. And at least quadrupled the size of our youth program! They were super nice, and I'm super glad to have another family here!

Thursday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SISTER AMANDA HEDRICK!!!! That's one of my BYU roommates who turned 20 the day before I did. Hope it was amazing for her!
We did weekly planning. Woot woot! Probably the most boring day of the week. I get it, I get it. Its totally necessary. But also boring. And it takes up WAYYYY too much time. Blech.
Anyways, after that, we went and saw Dan and Margaret. They are just so humble and so amazing. I love them! We talked with them a bit, and asked if there was anything they'd like to know more about since they are still relatively 'new' to the whole Mormon thing. We talked a little bit about the Word of Wisdom, and cleared up some questions. Then Dan and Margaret said that they'll both be getting their Patriarchal Blessings soon! That made me super stoked. We talked a little bit about what that would be like, and told them that next time we'd bring over a few quotes and talks about Patriarchal Blessings to make sure they understand what exactly they are. They're so amazing. Seriously. I love them!
Then, we went over to Jen's house and helped make some homemade donuts, and stuff for dinner. I told Jen a few of my favorite dishes, so she made me some yummy lasagna! She's such an amazing woman. Seriously, I look up to her a lot. Her kids made me some cute little birthday cards, and we had family prayer together. They are just such an amazing family!

Friday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! It was a pretty good day. I started it by opening the pile of presents my awesome family and friends sent. Seriously, I don't think I'll ever be able to say thank you enough for those. Y'all are too sweet. Be looking out for thank you cards soon!
We went over to Jen's on my birthday because she was super stressed about getting some things ready for the branch chili cookoff/Halloween party. We made some sugar cookies, some caramel and got a few more things ready for her to just throw in the car and go. We also cleaned a bit. So that was fun.
We tried to contact and teach a few people, but had no such luck. That's alright, because Whitney (Sis Arellano) wanted us to come over for my birthday dinner sooner! She had a cute little birthday banner up and made me wear a plastic birthday tiara. Not that I'm complaining at all! We had some croissants with cottage cheese/cranberry sauce, ham, cheese and lettuce. It was pretty good! Then, she dished out a few pieces of homemade pumpkin pie, and put some vanilla chocolate chip ice cream on top, stuck a candle in mine and lit it on fire. Then everyone sang happy birthday, and Sister Jones and Sister Arellano both snapped some pictures. Whitney's kids thought it was pretty fun.
My birthday was simple, different, and beautiful! I loved it.  Officially 20. Craziness.
Thank you so much to everyone who made my birthday so special. You'll never know how much it meant to me!

Kirsten following the tradition and modeling her birthday presents!

Saturday: Well, made it another year! Today was... interesting. It was pretty difficult for us because it was game day for A&M. And everybody shuts down for game days. Like "DON'T TALK TO ME! THE AGGIES ARE WAY AHEAD AND ARE WINNING SO I HAVE TO WATCH EVERY SINGLE SECOND! SHHHH I THINK THEY SCORED THEIR FIVE MILLIONTH TOUCHDOWN THIS GAME! OH MY GOODNESS, WHAT IF THE OTHER TEAM SUDDENLY CATCHES UP?!" Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. But it was a bit frustrating after we tried to teach Judy who was watching the game and tried to contact some referrals whose t.v's were blasting through the windows. So we went back to our apartment and had a little heat to heart. I was frustrated because I didn't know what we needed to do, Sister Paddock was just having a bit of a rough day as a missionary, and Sister Jones felt a little anxious about going home. She doesn't want to leave at all, but people bring it up with her all the time. Annoying! Anyways. We said a prayer and decided to go to the park behind our church building to study out in the nice weather, and where people could see us. There were a few birthday parties going on, but nobody wanted to talk to us. That's okay though- we waved and talked briefly with a few people, and we definitely had copies of the Book of Mormon all over the table. I think some seeds were definitely planted. After that, we helped get ready for the Chili cookoff. We finished Jen's makeup- oh, and by the way, that woman doesn't even NEED makeup to look gorgeous- and then got a ride with her out there. We helped to carameled apples, make candy bags for the kiddos, and got to ride on the hay ride because a bunch of the kids reallllllly wanted the sister missionaries to come! It was a lot of helping so by the end it was nice to kind of crash by the bonfire for a minute before heading home. The Crawford family came, and it was a good intro to the branch for them. They are awesome, and I love them already!

Sunday: Well, I taught my first Relief Society lesson! I think it went pretty well. People contributed a lot, which definitely helped. Oh! And we had a high councilor and his wife speak to us during sacrament. They are so funny, and very spiritual.
I was also super tired because there was a MASSIVE thunderstorm the night before that kept me awake because of all the flashes of lightning and pounding of huge rain drops that I thought were hail on our window. Because I'm right by the window. Silly weather! Nevertheless, Sunday was a pretty good day! We again ate dinner with Whitney, who invited us over last minute, and shared a thought with them. They we went over to the Crawford house to see what they thought of church, and if they needed any help. Let me just say, Brother Crawford is pretty hilarious. I think that they're an awesome addition to the branch.
Sunday night, last night, I couldn't sleep because I felt pretty sick again. I think I got maybe two hours of sleep? Anyways, I already took a nap today so I feel better. Dumb Satan, attacking missionaries in any way he can! I don't like him at all. Grr..

Anyways, that was basically our week. I love y'all tons, and I love being a missionary! There's honestly no better way I could have spent my 20th birthday. The church is true, and I love the gospel!!

love,
Sister Shell

It's My BIRTHDAY WEEK!! :D

Almost 20 years old, and there's nowhere else I'd rather spend my birthday than in the mission field.

Sorry my email was super late last week! But at least I was able to send one off. Life has been pretty otimo since Wednesday. I guess I'll just pick up from there.

Found out that Jaymin got baptized 2 Saturdays ago! (I don't remember if I told you about him. He's a 9 year old son of some members that we were teaching. Super stoked!) And Cheyenne got baptized this past Saturday! (I'm sure you remember me mentioning a 10 yo girl who was bouncing off the walls whenever we tried to teach her...)

Wednesday: We taught Judy the first lesson! It went pretty well, which was awesome. She was a little confused on some things, but I think we were able to clear most of that up. She said she would read the pamphlet we gave her (The Restoration) to try and understand it more. She also agreed to start reading the Book of Mormon, and said she would write down any questions she had while doing so. She's such a sweet lady. I really love her!
That night we ate dinner at Mary's. Once again, somehow we had yummy vegetarian food. She's such a great cook. Sister Paddock shared a great spiritual thought with her, and we left for home. Can I just tell you how awesome Mary is? She is super amazing. She's only been a member for 2 years, and yet she's the Relief Society President here in the branch. What an incredible woman.

Thursday: IT FELT LIKE FALL! I mean, the kind where you can wake up and feel that the air is different. It feels... brisk. Yupp, brisk is the right word. Thursday was weekly planning, which was... fabulous as always. Since we were low on miles (due to the temple trip), we asked Jen to pick us up for dinner. She is amazing, so of course she did so. We helped her make dinner- yummy chicken noodle soup with biscuits. We helped make the biscuits and noodles from scratch. What an amazing cook she is! So good, in fact, that we didn't mess it up by trying to help out :P

Friday: We had an interesting district meeting. Very spiritual. We talked a lot about the Atonement, and about how to qualify for the Spirit. The people in our district our pretty cool. Although I did get mad at our district leader when he called one Sunday for numbers because he told me that my visa was never coming, then laughed and laughed and laughed because somehow he thought that was hilarious. Its not. But he kept insisting that I would never get my visa. Ever. But all is well, never fear! The lad apologized sincerely, so we're all good. Haha, :P so anyways... We gave Sister Kyles and Sister Hansen a ride back to their apartment (they walked to the church building we meet at) and got an extra nightstand they had. Thank goodness, because we needed just a little bit more storage space with 3 sisters instead of 2! What nice people I know.
We ate dinner with the Arellanos that night, and she was an angel and picked us up as well. We had yummy BLT's with guacamole in them. So good! Y'all, I like food. Who knew? Haha, anyways, it was fun. We got to know her husband, Phillip, a little more. He works night shifts at a hospital as a Respiratory Therapist, so he typically sleeps during the day. Hence we haven't seen him at church too often. But he's a really laid back, nice guy and has a strong testimony.
Such good people here in Caldwell! Then, we drove back that night to do exchanges. Sister Jones left, and our Sister Training Leader, Sister Jacobsen came here.
Saturday: Exchanges continued! I was super proud of myself that morning too! I was pretty productive- full, good workout in the morning, I read in D&C while waiting for my turn to shower, I had my makeup done and was dressed on time, and didn't even begin to doze off during personal study. And I studied Portuguese really well for a solid hour. It was AWESOME!

Saturday was interesting. So, we went and visited Vicky. She showed Sister Paddock and Sister Jacobsen her cat habitat that she's built onto her house for her 30+ Persian cats (who are oddly friendly for felines) and we sat out there, since we could feel the nice weather, and had a nice chat. Then Sister Jacobsen grabbed her scriptures and shared a spiritual thought that pertained to everything Vicky was talking about from the Book of Mormon. (Remember, Vicky was baptized several years ago). Things got a little interesting and antagonistic and the spirit was not there anymore.  I felt very sad about how things were going and tried to help the spirit come back into our discussion.  I told her how much we loved her, apologized if  we upset her, and thanked her for her faith again. Sister Jacobsen asked if we could say a closing prayer, and asked me to say it. We parted on good terms, laughing, and Vicky told us to come back soon. She also said to tell Sister Jones that she missed her!
Thank goodness for the Spirit, because I would not have known what to do if I had only my own thoughts and mind to handle that situation. Even though it hurt to hear her slandering all the things I hold precious and sacred, it was a testimony builder to me because I still felt the Spirit guiding me. And she didn't change what I know. All of it is still true- even if she doesn't think it is. And I still love her, and want her to be happy.
This gospel is amazing. Being a missionary is amazing.

After that experience, we went over to Dan and Margaret's for Margaret's birthday party! So fun. Barbecue, friendly people. I talked to Jen about what had just happened, and she helped make us laugh and feel better. I also asked a few members there about Vicky's Book of Mormon question, and got a few good answers. Members are amazing :) Then, we had some yummy, delicious, beautiful cake that Jen made and a closing prayer, and we were off!

To the Gambles we went, and we helped clear off part of their land. We piled huge branches and brush into the back of Jason's truck and then started a huge bonfire while Grace was watching Henry and finishing some online homework. We left and went home to finish exchanges.
And I felt sick that night. My stomach hurt, my body ached, and just... blech.
What a day!

Sunday: Woke up feeling a bit better, and we got a ride from Jen to church. She's awesome, as I've mentioned before. Church was amazing. And Dan gave his first talk! He was a bit flustered, but he did such a good job. It was about service in the Priesthood. He humbly talked about how he still has a lot to learn, but that he's trying to do as much as he can. He talked a bit about Henry B. Eyring and what he has said about Priesthood service, and then expounded. He's one of those speakers that  can read something off of a paper, then look up and expound on it. A LOT! It was so good. He talked about how if we quit serving others, we are really just losing ourselves and doing ourselves harm.
I've never heard a more beautiful, humble, simple yet powerful talk. It touched my heart.
We went back home, and since Sister Paddock and Sister Jones were feeling a bit sick too, took brief naps. Then we went and visited Connie Colley (a fairly recent convert) who is amazing, then dropped off a "Welcome" card to a family of 6 who are moving into the branch!! Everyone, including me, is super excited that they're moving in. We can really use them here, and I love them already!

Now here we are today, doing P-Day stuff and I just want to say... Thank you! I've already gotten some birthday cards and presents (which haven't been opened, don't worry) from family members and friends. What amazing people I know! Thanks for being so amazing, everyone! Hope everyone's week is just lovely! Next time I email, it will be as a wise 20 year old woman.

Crazy how time flies. I love you all! The church is true, and being a missionary is the best thing I've ever done.

love,
Sister Shell

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED!!!

Always crazy things going on in Caldwell. 

So, I dunno if I mentioned this... but last Sunday (the 6th) we got the call about transfers saying that we would stay together in Caldwell. Woot woot! They told us we would get a call on Monday telling us if we were going to get a third or a trainee. 

Monday: No calls. So, just us two rocking it out here in Caldwell. Which made Sister Shell think "Maybe my visa isn't coming soon after all. Oh well!"

Tuesday: We went to the library to print off some things we needed and missed a call while we were there. Well, we called back and it was the mission office elders! The conversation went a little bit like this:

"Hey sisters! We were just wondering- is 6:45 tonight a good time to drop off your third bed?"-them

"....What third bed??" -us

"Ya know, for your trio!" -them

"... We haven't heard anything about a trio..." -us

"Well, I'm looking at the transfer sheet and it says 'Sister Jones, Sister Shell and trainee' for Caldwell." -them

".....uhhhh....."-us

"Call the Assistants to make sure thats right..."-them

So, we did. It went something like this:

"Hey, so, we are just wondering... we didn't get any calls yesterday about a third person or about training, but the mission office elders just told us that their sheet says we need a third bed because we'll be in a trio..."-us

"Serious? You didn't get the call?? Okay, well, Sister Jones and Sister Shell, would you be willing to train this transfer?"- assistants

"Uh, yeah, sure." -us

"Sweet, thanks so much! Sorry it was us extending the call instead of President... He's with the departing missionaries right now.. But I know you'll be blessed for accepting that responsibility!" -assistants

So, yeah, thats basically how it went down. Sister Jones and I had a little freakout attack because suddenly our whole week changed, and we had to go pick up some newbie on Thursday WAY down in Houston. And I just kept thinking "EEP!"

That night, we tried to contact one of our referrals. No luck. But, we decided to go talk to Judy again- the former investigator of the senior couple who told us to come back another time because she was sick- and we had a nice long chat with her. She told us she was laid off 6 weeks ago and took that as a sign that she needed to retire. Then she told us that because she likes our church, what she knows, and she has time now, she wants to come to church! we were like :D She told us that we're the only church that she knows that really practices what we preach! And she said "I dunno if I'll change, but I want to learn more. So I'll try to come on Sunday." We told her the time meetings start and informed her that, as missionaries, we are here to help people like her learn more, that we have a series of 6 lessons that we offer about our church, and would she be interested? "Oh yes, very much! Come by any time!"

ONE MORE INVESTIGATOR FOR CALDWELL! Woot woot!

Wednesday: We had a lesson with Marsha! We asked her how her Book of Mormon reading was coming along, and she said "Oh, psh, thats done!" And we were like :D She said she reallly liked it, and is starting it over. She also said she wants to read the Doctrine and Covenants that we've been talking about, and asked how she could watch General Conference since she missed it. :D 

We gave her the info, and taught her the Plan of Salvation. She really liked how we feel about the Fall- that we praise Eve for making the difficult decision that she did make, and that we're grateful it happened. She loved everything we said. We asked her to be baptized and she said "Yes, but probably not until after the 1st of the year. We go hunting every weekend from November to December and I don't want to get baptized and not come to church for two months!" 

BATISMO!! She also said that even if we didn't go any farther than the First Vision and the Book of Mormon, she would want to be baptized because she believes both of those things are true, and that they really happened.

MARSHA IS AMAZING! One funny thing she said (we were asking how her husband feels about this) and she said "Frank don't care! He just sits there and watches TV while I read. Heck, I could be reading a terrorist manual and he wouldn't know! Just as long as I don't blow up the house, he's good." 

Marsha is great. I like her!

That night we went to bed an hour early because we had to get up at 5 to pick up another Sister (Gregson) who needed to get her trainee, and then head down to Houston and be there by 9.

Thursday: We woke up to a voicemail and a missed call from President Pingree. We called back as soon as it was 6:30, and got a hold of him when we were on our way to pick up Sister Gregson. He told us that there was a sister who had been in a biking area for a transfer but couldn't bike anymore because of tendonitis. He said that she really needed to be transferred to a car area, and felt like we were the right sisters and area for her. Then he apologized for how crazy the communications have been lately, and asked if it would be alright if that happened instead of us getting a trainee. And who are we to argue with what the Lord wants? Of course, we said yes. And continued down to Houston.

By the way, all the elders were super jealous of Antonio.

Anyways, we got the lovely Sister Paddock! She's very quiet but also really dedicated and sweet. I like her. Then, we stayed through the training meeting because Sister Gregson still had to get her newbie, and SISTER KYLES WAS THERE!! My 'mom' was getting another 'baby' :P AND, found out that she's in my district! Which is awesome. They're whitewashing/ Her newbie is a visa waiter for the Interlagos mission in Sao Paulo. So now I can practice Portuguese with her at district meeting!!!

Then, we made the long drive back. And had dinner with Jenn, who tried on a hilarious Halloween costume for us- I'll send pictures. Although I may not have time to today. 

Friday- We had a really awesome district meeting. I like all the new people in our district. Its awesome. Plus, its always good to have more sisters! 

That night, we ate at Whitney's (Sis Arellano). She wasn't home when we got there, but her brother-in-law let us in. We quickly realized that she wasn't there and went to the backyard to keep rules, and showed Sister Paddock all of Whitney's animals! It was pretty fun. She finally got back with some pizza, and then her slightly autistic boy, James, got stuck in the treehouse they're building because he saw a wasp fly into the ladder and was scared to climb down because he is DEATHLY allergic to them. Never fear, his mom saved the day and he finally got down.

Saturday, we visited with Dan and Margaret for HOURS. It was interesting. Then, Debbie (Dan's sister and Margaret's daughter) came in and we all had a lovely chat. Dan finally cut off his super long ponytail! Woot woot!

Then, we got super sweaty and gross doing service at the Gambles. Their little redhead Henry likes playing tag with me. Oh, and we got to help them with their bonfire! Fun stuff. We had yummy pork sandwiches for dinner. Delicious.

Sunday: Dan said the sacrament prayers for the first time! He stumbled a bit, but he did a really good job. Then, it was like a marathon Sunday. Saturday night, we had been asked to teach both Primary and Relief Society about missionary work. So we did both of course! Jenn was Sister Jones' comp in RS and Sis Paddock came with me.  It went really well. We taught their sharing time, and started by asking "What do missionaries do?" Two kids immediately answered "GO ON MISSIONS!!" Yes, children, that's exactly right! Haha so then we told them some specific things, and then talked about how even though its hard and scary to leave home, its a good thing. We leave our families for a little time so that other families can be together forever. Then, I read my badge of honor to them in Portuguese, and had them figure out what it said by looking at Sister Paddock's. Then, I asked them where I should wear my nametag.  ("On my skirt?" "NO!" "In my hair?" "NO!" In Jonathon's hair?" "NO!" "What about here?" "YES!") After that, I asked them why missionaries wore it there. "So people can see your name tag when you smile!"

"Exactly! What else? What's it over?" 

"Its on your heart!" Then we talked about how we need to be missionaries in our hearts, and how Jesus should be in our hearts just like his name is over mine. 

Overall, I think it went pretty well.

Monday: P-Day was boring because we were stuck in Caldwell and couldn't email :P Good thing we had Jenn to make us laugh at dinner that evening! 

Tuesday: TEN DAYS!!! AND SISTER KYLES BIRTHDAY WAS YESTERDAY! The big 2-0. AND we went to the temple! It was amazing. I finally got to see the new video and I loved it. I always feel like a princess there, and I always feel so loved. And with the new video, I learned so much more than I usually do. It was amazing. I understood it so well, and it was beautiful. I love the temple!!!

We also gave Elder Stepp (one of our Zone Leaders) and his comp, Elder T(however you spell it) a ride. It was pretty entertaining. What missionaries do to stay sane on long car rides!

Here I am today, frantically typing out an email in hopes to send it off! I dunno if I'll send pictures... Maybe you'll just have to wait until Monday to get those!

Shoutout to Hermana Xonthe for giving my first birthday card! Eu amo voce :) 

Tchau tchau! 

Sister Shell

P.S. I really feel like I'm leaving for Brasil soon. Sister Jones does too. And so does Sister Paddock. Get ready Brasil, 'cause here I come!!!!