Have a Blessed Day!

January 28,2013
Family and Friends!

How are you? How is the Sun? The weather has been a little rainy here but that's okay!!! This week has been a little slow. Our entire Zone did a special fast on Thursday(?) to see miracles and find a family to teach. We saw a lot of miracles that day and possible investigator families. It was fun but a little crazy. We work a lot with less actives and have had some real success in getting them to church and plainly opening their door to us. I had a very sad experience last night. Our only progressing investigator has been a 14 year old girl who lives with her aunt and husband who are members that are working on being more active and have a goal to go to the temple. This girl, we will call her Jill, has been in the foster care system and has had a pretty rough life. Saturday night she had a melt down over some pretty stupid things and started having a literal fit. She threw things that broke the window called the cops and then started throwing accusations out that were entirely untrue. Needless to say she has been placed back into the foster care system and is in a Psychiatric hospital having an evaluation done. It was horrible news to receive and Sister Haws and I pretty much cried on our way to bed. As I was thinking about it I realized how grateful I am to have parents who were raised with strong family values and have striven to live the gospel in their lives and to incorporate it into their children's lives. The gospel does so much besides give us salvation. It blesses our families and makes homes a safe place to reside where you can learn and as a family strive to all work towards the same thing, eternal life. I don't know where I would be today if I didn't have the gospel or a good family to rely on. I sincerely pray for "Jill" and hope that the doctors who are treating her will be lead and guided and that she will rely on the things we have taught her about prayer and her loving Heavenly Father. I also pray that she will be placed in a home with people who will be patient with her and loving. Another downer was that Sunday night was the night to find out if "Jill" had prayed and accepted the Baptismal date of Feb. 16th we were hoping to set for her. This whole situation has been devastating to me but has made me extremely grateful for the things I have been blessed with.

Sister Haws- I love her!!!! She is from Rexburg, Idaho and no her parents do not work for BYU. She has a license as a cosmetologist. She has recently cut a couple of elderly ladies hair in our ward. And she is amazing on the piano. She used to be a music major. We have fun together and pretty much just give each other attitude. ;D

Yesterday we had the opportunity to accompany our ward mission leader for a musical number. He rented a violin for me to play and we have it for a month! The song was "Come thou font" and it was beautiful. I think it would be a good arrangement for Emily. There is also a flute part to go with the violin but you can make it work if you don't have a person to play the flute. I love playing the hymns and bearing my testimony through music.

The ward here feeds us ridiculously well. I am surprised my clothes still fit and possible might be looser especially since we dont really walk a ton of the time. Benefits of a car area ;D (sorta). We have asked the ward to stop providing dessert for "health reasons." When actually it is just because we shouldn't have so many sweets. hahahaha

We also might start teaching a Temple Prep Class. There are enough people in our ward who are trying to set the goal of attending the temple for themselves. It will be so exciting if we are assigned to do that!

Something weird about California: People talk through their Doors!!!! Sometimes I think seriously, how hard is it to open your door? But then again why would you even come to the door if you didn't want to open it and talk to people? I don't know but it is an interesting thing out here.

There is a saying that I have heard here so much that I want to share it with you. A lot of people say things to wish you a good day with Heavenly Father blessing you and as members we don't use these phrases simply because it would be taking the Lord's name in vain. The phrase that I like so much is "Have a blessed day." What a phrase right? It pretty much is the same wish for people without swearing! I love it and it makes me happy when I hear it.

I love being a missionary and serving the Lord. It makes me happy too. I love all of you and think about you tons! I hope all of your families are well and that they are progressing temporally and spiritually.

Hoorah for Israel!

Love you,

Sister Cottrell

January 21, 2013

Hello everyone!!!!

This week has definitely been difficult. It has been so busy and crazy. I just recently discovered I get really nervous about door contacting. We are supposed to rely on the spirit when we knock doors but for the spirit to work with us we have to provide him with info which we gain in our studies. For me I have discovered I really struggle to stay calm and remember to rely on the Spirit. My poor companion watched me break down during role playing. I felt bad but I think I really just needed to cry. She shared a scripture with me which has helped, Doctrine and Covenants 84:85? Sister Haws knows I am really struggling with this and I am so grateful for her patience. This break through was Saturday. I have been having a hard time sleeping and my dreams have gotten really weird and exhausting. So Saturday night was one of those nights. I woke up at five wide awake with my mind spinning. After dozing a little bit I woke up to the alarm and knew something was wrong. In my dreams I had been MAD, and when I woke up I had such a high level of contention in my heart. I was afraid to talk to let Sister Haws know there was a problem. I tried praying but could hardly concentrate. When I finally mustered up the courage to talk I asked to get the Elders over to our place ASAP to get a blessing. I got some music turned on and it helped a little. When the Elders walked in it was like a peace washed over the apartment. After my blessing, which had some really cool things in it, I started feeling better. It dawned on me this morning that I had a (kind of) Joseph Smith experience, where Satan jumped in and tried to take control to keep me from doing what I needed to do. It was so scary and I never want to go through that again, especially to feel like I couldn't have the spirit with me.

The week other than that has been productive. We found a couple people that we really hope to hear from. As we talked to them we knew that they felt the spirit. I am really beginning to love the people of Chatsworth. The ward is amazing out here. It is sometimes frustrating to see members doing things that are contradictory to the commandments and not be able to say anything because it is not our place. I found someone in the ward who is going to sow some linings in a couple skirts of mine because they are kind of see through and my slip is not long enough. The ward members feed us almost every night. I had my first experience with Thai food this week (it was awesome) and will be having Jamacian food next month. I am so excited!!

I am so glad that Amy is doing better! I have been thinking so much about her and Uncle Sean this week.

Okay so some things about my area:

Large Jewish community with a couple temples

Next to almost every doughnut shop there is a liquor store

I saw a horse walking down the side walk yesterday.

There are horse crossings in the middle of town

I met a lady in our ward last week. She doesn't come very often because she lives in a house most of the time in Saratoga Springs. Her name is Sister Lee and she knows some "Randalls" down the street from her. I believe its Jeff and Danielle based of her description ;D

Well that is about it. I am doing well and could fall asleep at 9:30 instead of 10:30pm. I love being a missionary and I love learning about the Doctrine of Christ. I didn't realize that the gospel of Christ is listed in the 4th article of faith adding Enduring to the End to it. Its amazing how much we have been given and I am so excited to be apart of this movement to help the Lord hasten his work and to be apart of the prophesy of a mighty army coming forth to build the kingdom of the Lord!

Hoorah for Israel!

Sister Cottrell

I hope they call me on a Mission!

It's been a long time comin' however it finally came!!!! I have been called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in San Fernando, California. I am reporting to the MTC on December 19, 2012. I am so excited!!!!

Cake Boss#2

Hello Friends!
It has been such a long time since I have last blogged. And I am terribly sorry for that. It is partly due to the fact I am so terrible with technology. I have been working on fixing my blog the last six months and only just got it figured out last week.
I have been keeping busy, that is for sure. My brother has given me an endearing nick name when I do cakes and that is the Cake Boss II.Since moving back to Utah I seemed to have caught a cake bug. It started out around Valentines Day. My mom had seen this really cool looking cake decorating technique. It is called a ruffle. So me, in my craftiness, decided to come up with a reason to try the ruffle out. The I love you party was coming up soon and I told my mom I was claiming one of the desserts and it would be cake. So for the entire week before this party I made three cakes all from scratch. Each one turned out very different. This was my first cake it was a horrible looking cake.

 The second and third cake turned out much better.

And finally the "Love Cake"

After this cake I started getting into the little kid cakes. My coworker asked me to do a race car cake. I think it turned out cute.

And finally my two favorite of all time! These cakes took a long time to make and most of that time was figuring out how to assemble them. It was worth all the effort just to see the reactions on the faces of the Birthday people.

Both cakes are 3D. Now that I know what I am doing it will be easier to do these cakes in the future. Well I think that's all! Until next time!

Reflections

So time must fly by because it doesn't feel like its been 4 months since I have posted. And on that note I recently just realized next month (November) marks one year that I have been in Lincoln. I wont lie it really startled me to figure that one out.
So my reflections of the last couple months have consisted of the things I have done and the decisions I have made. Some things of firsts. I went fishing and caught 3 small fish, attended a demolition derby, took a plane home all by myself, made a rubix cube cake, ate squid ( which is actually really good ) and turtle. I think that is all.
Some decisions I have made: the big one.... I moved into and apartment!!!!!!!!!! Hooray! It was fun while it lasted however due to decisions of others and poor management it didn't last long. I lived there for a total of 6 weeks. It was nice to decorate it and basically do things the way I thought was best. I felt very independent. I moved back to my grandparents, and I am extremely grateful they have been able to take me back in. At least now I have a roof over my head and a place to sleep. I think that about covers the adventures of my summer. I kept busy and started doing healthy things like playing ultimate Frisbee for 2 hours one night a week, biking a gravel trail and starting my diet over again. Which with all these things combined helped me to get into a little better shape. ;) It was fun especially with Frisbee to see myself grow and get better at things. I can run a little faster, catch harder throws and learn the strategy of the game well enough to read other peoples moves. It was probably my most favorite thing during the week!
For good news; Last quarter in school I earned a GPA of 4.0! I was terribly excited and hope with the new quarter starting again I will be able to do just as well with all things considered.
I am doing well, trying to figure things out, and learning consistently. Well I think that about covers it!
Until next time!
P.s here are some pictures of my summer.

Life is Great !!!

I decided that tonight at 1 am would be a wonderful time to write something. Partially because I need to, and the other, partially, is because my head is spinning from homework and I wont sleep till some of it is unloaded. I cant seem to finish my homework until tomorrow or Thursday. I have had a mental writers block since Sunday. So this can also be an exercise to hopefully break down that blockade up there and let me continue with my crazy life. How do you like that justification? ha ha ha.
Life out here in Nebraska is great! I am finally in school and doing well so far. Especially in my math class. Those who know me well can attest to the fact math is NOT my strong point in academics. I currently have a 98%!!!! hooray for me!!! I pretty excited about it. My church calling is awesome too. I am in the relief society presidency and loving it! It gives me the opportunity to reach out to girls and get to know them. Which is nice since I am still trying to "friend" people in the ward. I never thought that all those experiences in Delta would have prepared me to tackle this calling. It definitely absorbs my extra time. What little is available of it. :)
Last month marked a year of visiting back here for a friends wedding. I recently recalled an experience I had during that visit. I was sitting in sacrament meeting and suddenly felt this overwhelming feeling that I was going to end up back in this ward. The ward I was attending is the singles ward I am now in. Funny huh? I had completely forgotten that small moment. It is funny how the Lord works. I would have never thought that feeling would actually make itself into a reality. As far as I was concerned Utah was where I was going to be calling home for a while. How wrong I was!!!!
Each day something happens where I am consistently reminded that the Lord wants me out here. I have seen miracles in my schooling and in other areas of my life because of my choices to follow the promptings of the spirit.
I also realize that I am still growing, and maturing. I am beginning to handle situations differently and I am learning patience. slowly..... But still learning the principle of it.
Life is great!!! I don't care who you are or who is reading this but I want you to know that I appreciate my life with all the curve balls and ups and downs I have been through. Life is precious to me and it kills me when people talk their life down. You should love it a lot more. Your life is a gift from our Heavenly Father. You are here for a reason too you know. If you are finding life difficult go out and serve someone in need of a cheerful smile!! Find a hands on project to keep you busy, or just call me and I'll cheer you up. But whatever you do always remember life is great and is worth living!!!!!

Faith, Trust and Good Timing...?

There are times in my life where decisions are either easy or difficult. Everyone has those moments. It seems lately that I have had a lot of difficult ones. Tonight I was presented with another dilemma.

For those of you who do not know me very well, I am a Mormon. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints members are selected through thought and prayer and given assignments or callings. These callings can vary from teaching sunday school to leading the music. Every summer the young women go to what is called Girls Camp. It is a time where girls learn the lessons of survival outdoors and grow stronger in unity with each other. All seven years as a camper I have loved it. It was one of my favorite times of summer. My first year a tornado hit the area and we had to run for shelter. And the last year I went I was a certification leader. Basically I taught the girls certain things like how to do a bedroll, build a fire, constellations etc. Why am I bringing this up? Well I received a telephone call tonight asking me to accept the assignment of 1st year camp leader. I was so excited!!!!! I without a thought accepted it.

Now here is the catch, the real dilemma. Girls camp is June 13-17. Right in the middle of the work week. I have been planning on visiting home June 23-27, and Christmas. I only have so many vacation days. And if I do both on paid leave I miss Christmas.... Now the decision seems easy to you I can tell, but I want you to know that I have never turned down an assignment/calling. No matter how unappealing or untimely it might have come. I have faith and trust that the Lord is providing a way for me to make it home to my family, especially when he knows how homesick I am. But if this assignment is made through prayer how can I turn it down? Girls Camp comes around every year. But MY FAMILY is the only family I have. I love them so much, and I am counting down the days until I can run to them and give them all hugs. I can tell that this decision is going to be so hard! And that it is going to take a lot of prayer and faith relying on the Lord that he knows what is best for me and where I need to be at the right time.