Hello!

What a week! We have had some pretty dark clouds hanging over the valley but as for rainfall...little to none. So if the rain has come it hasn't hit my area of the world. It sounds like it is making all the other parts of the US nice and moist. We would love the rain but it just wont drop down here.

This week we really struggled to get our investigators and less actives to keep appointments. However the lessons we did have were wonderful and the spirit was strong. "Bill" learned about the word of wisdom. Its always entertaining to watch their reactions to the things they cant have and rewarding to watch when they understand the spiritual benefits of living it. Lucky for him he is too poor to be able to buy cigarettes, coffee, and wine. =)

The 13 year old (still can't come up with a name) also learned about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the 10 commandments. When ever we bring up his baptism his face literally lights up. His eyes get all squinty as he smiles big and wide. His eyes start twinkling and he just nods. He is so excited about March 2cd! I love being able to teach him and see the progress that he makes. He is one of those people that are just special to the Lord.

Yesterday was an interesting experience. I have never felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off  until yesterday. We were pulled in so many different ways. I have become the primary pianist for the next couple weeks and it was so fun to watch the kids. I really enjoyed it. Sister Bray also really enjoyed the time. Church starts at 11:30. We got there a little early and didn't leave until 4:30. It was a long day. By the end of the day we had forgotten 2 people we needed to visit and I was just close to tears. Bed came quickly and I am doing much better.

We were asked to do an emergency help packing job this week. When we went over there there was maybe 10 boxes totally packed. We were there for 4 hours helping this pregnant sister and more that doubled her boxes. We found out later that when they were loading up the truck she was still packing. Oy! I thought for sure she would have been ready with us helping her out. But it all worked out!

We had a huge success with the Sister in our ward that we did the stop smoking program with. She is officially a non smoker and is doing so good! She is so much more confident than before and she is sharing the program with everyone.

It was overall a very good week. A little stressful but we came out on top of the messy pile up. Just in time for a new week. Sister Bray continues to lovingly remind me that we only have 2 weeks left in this transfer. HELP! hahaha

So I finally remembered the other funny things that happened last week. Here's a list of things I learned:

I learned to not trust my companion on how to cook a potato in the microwave. Trust me its not 7 minutes. Its like 4 minutes. If its seven, black smoke starts pooring out of the microwave and your potato has caught fire. The smell is disgusting!

When your investigator is addicted to drugs turn your head and look the other way when his brother goes off to make a drug deal.

After it rains dont walk on the sidewalk next to huge puddles of water that are on the street. The cars hit them and huge walls of water come flying at you and soak you through....... However do be nice to the poor young man that stops and looks for a towel that doesn't exist in his car and then politely decline the drink at his apartment once you are dry. =)

These are some of the things that I have learned and that have made me laugh. The wall of water is my favorite one. It was just like the classic old movies and we did get wet and just started laughing. The guy was almost frantic. He hazard parked in the middle of the road just to make sure we were okay. I hope he wasn't offended when we didn't go to his apartment. I am still not sure he heard us say, "No Thank you!" hahaha

Well until next week!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell