Amazing Week!

This week has been amaizng. I have really been working on asking inspired questions while street contacting. Its been amazing to see the responses from people. They feel the spirit more quickly and it seems to weed them out faster. You know the people who are truly interested and those who aren't. We went on exchanges this week and it was amazing! I was able to work with a sister that I have always wanted to work with. Her name is Sister Walgren. She is a power house and I really learned alot from her.

We also had a ward blitz on Saturday. I was able to take the Relief Society President out with me. We ended up talking to a lot of spanish people which was great because she spoke spanish. I couldn't understand a lick of it but the spirit was strong and I know she had a wonderful experience. Now hopefully she can pump up the other sisters in the ward.

 I didn't get transferred! Hooray! This is the first transfer since May that I haven't had something to do with or for. Its great! a little weird but good. I am so excited that I get to finish Sister Bray's training. She is so wonderful and I am excited to see how she continues to progress as a missionary. 

We gained 2 new investigators this week which were pure miracles. One has 2 little children (we found her on exchanges) and the other is a 13 year old boy (he has come to church since he was little). I am so excited about these investigators. Its going to be a great experience! Last night we taught one of them and it was so powerful! I am confident he will be baptized in the next coming months.

Highlights:

There were several times this week where we had older men flirting with us. It was always funny because the companion they were flirting with never figured it out until the other companion told them. We also had a drunk kid flirting with us. Apparently he joined the church when he was 14 but wont come to church because he cant get his family to come with him. I partially believe him. I am sure there is some truth to what he said. Sister Bray told me that when people get drunk they always discover they have a tongue. They always have it sticking out just a little bit and that is exactly how this kid was! 

I saw a semi truck trailer that hauls cars with the title "Cottrell inc." on the side. I was super excited! 

I met a direct descendant of David Whitmer on the street! We walked up to him introduced ourselves and he said, "Oh yeah Im a member. Can I see your book? He opened right up to the testimony of the 3 witnesses and said you see that guy? Thats my great grandpa!"

I got a spider bite on my leg that swelled to the size of a couple quarters. I think it came when we met with a potential outside sitting on his lawn furniture. (its healing now hahaha) 

Last week we had a ZTM where we talked about casting our nets away. We wrote down our nets and literally threw them in the trash. I didn't think much about it but the Lord did, I have discovered. I can't tell you how much the Lord has helped me stay away from the nets. One of them was fear. Not your every day "Am I going to be safe today?" fear but the fear of talking to strangers and making mistakes. I have felt more bold and more passionate about the work this week than at any other time in my mission. I am trying as hard as I can to take one day at a time and to control the things that I can control. It doesn't do me any good to focus on anything bigger. It stresses me out. I have also seen a lot of growth in myself this week. I think the Lord is trying to tell me something. Up to this point I haven't really felt like I have changed but there are little things that have popped up that I know are different about me.

Well I cant think of anything more. I love you so much! Its gonna be another great week! Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

Where Did The Week Go?

Hello All!

I hope you all enjoyed your New Years Eve! We had a classic Missionary Holiday. We had curfew at 7 pm. It was a little weird not having much to do at home but we did enjoy the time. I updated my journal which was only 15 days behind...........horrible! Don't worry its all up to date now! Then we celebrated the New Year with New York at 9pm! Hooray! hahaha I think we still have a bottle of Martinellis in the fridge. ;D We went to bed and tried to sleep through the parties and fireworks/gun shots. Now don't get worried. The Mexicans fire their guns in the air when they celebrate. However a couple nights later Sister Bray heard a gun shot which she said sounded like a 45 and then screeching tires. So thats Van Nuys for you. Lots of drunk Mexicans and parties...is that racist of me to say? If it wasn't safe here the Lord wouldn't have us here. Besides we know that the Lord doesn't protect stupid and we are smart! So that is a huge comfort.

I had a couple sick days this week that literally kept me down. I just lost all energy and had horrible stomach cramps. Can't figure it out. We thought it might have been some food but it still is persisting. I did get some energy back and of course spent it all moving furniture out for a lady in our ward hahaha. The first day I laid down during lunch and crashed for 3 hours! I couldn't believe it! I guess I needed the sleep. I am getting better and I can get out and work now which, Hallelujah! I hate sitting inside all day.

We got blessings this week to help us start off the new year. I had been feeling a little down anyway and just felt like I needed the boost. It was very insightful and reminded me that the Lord knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts. I was given some really good counsel and can't wait to put it into practice! I was also told that my family AND my friends where receiving blessings by me serving a mission. I knew about the family but the friends surprised me. I didn't realize that my service extended that far. It was a cool little thought and was extra comforting. I love my family and my friends a lot and so it made me happy to hear they are being taken care of.

Probably the saddest part of my week came yesterday morning at 6:30 AM. We have a had this fantastic investigator who has a baptismal date in a couple weeks. We got a text message saying he wasn't coming to church and isn't ready to get baptized and proceeded to explain that he is gay.....:( I honesty just wanted to cry. I hate that this is a part of our culture these days. I felt so bad for him because he said its not a choice he has made and that he didn't want to come to a church that can't support someone like him. We realized that when we taught the law of Chastity he hung to the part of we don't support those relationships and didn't hear the part where we said that we love them anyway. So frustrating! He even said to us, "Marriage between a man and woman...makes sense." The little punk! I wish he hadn't said all the right things to make us believe everything was okay. It totally threw us for a loop and it wasn't till 3 pm that we pulled out of it. We have talked to several people about it and we have some resources that can help us. He said his life has been full of sadness and unhappiness. We are going to use that line to our advantage in our next lesson with him to help him see the happiness the gospel has brought to his life. I am so grateful that the church has published literature for this exact situation. We need all the prayers and help we can get right now! We believe being in Primary all day helped us out a lot. Those little kids are so cute! Junior primary is so good at answering questions! And boy do they have good ones. All the teachers were scrambling to answer them. hahaha one of the little girls suddenly shouted out and said, "My mom served a mission too!" Her mom who is the chorister looked at us and replied, "No I didnt." The little girls jaw hit the floor. Her facial expression was, What!?! The mom lowered her voice and said, "I have failed my child."  It made me all the more grateful that I can tell my children that I served a mission.

On wednesday night we found a former investigator. She is so cute! She is also from El Salvador. She offered us dinner and said that the Elders previous to us loved to eat! Especially Chile. Why chile? I couldn't answer. We didn't turn her down since we didn't have a dinner that night. Are you ready to hear what we ate???? Drumroll please...............we ate Goat meat! It was so good! It tasted like roast beef but was more moist and tender. YUM!

Last night we got a member referral for some people which attend chruch regularly. The young grandson is not a member but comes every week and participates in all the young men activities and scouts. He also has Aspergers (sp?) His grandfather is only a priest and needs to do some things to progress in the priesthood so he can baptize his grandson. We approached them last night and asked if the grandson would like to take the missionary lesson. He said, "Yes, because I want to get baptized!" When someone has Aspergers they have a hard time accepting change so the fact that he wants to get baptized is a big step! I am a firm believer that timing is essential in finding those that have been prepared to receive us. We are excited to help this little family come closer together in the gospel and to each other. We have members in the ward who know them well and know how to help the young man learn and retain info. Its going to be a group effort and require lots of planning in advance but it should all work out. See, the Lord is kind and gives us someone new when we start to loose investigators.

Otherwise its been kind of a slow week. I did see someone walking around in a Nebraska shirt and it wasn't me. I was sick that day and it made me smile.

Well thats about it folks! It was a slow week but productive. I hope you all have a good week!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

ps just so you know transfer calls come Saturday night. Can you believe it?

Happy New Year!

This week has just flown by! I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone already! Why does time fly by so fast?

It was so great to talk with the family. I feel bad because I wasn't sad to say goodbye. Not that I was happy but I realize that it will soon be time to say hello again. Christmas day was so nice. We were able to wake up open presents and then start our day with studies. It was so spiritual! We had a Christmas dinner scheduled but they ended up at the hospital. :( So....we went to Denny's! Just like in the Santa Claus. It was awesome! Then we went caroling with our district and had a wonderful time.

I have realized a true blessing in our area this week. Everytime we loose an investigator we gain one. This is what happened this week. One of our investigators is a 17 year old girl. She lives with her grandma and brother. Grandma has dimentia and doesn't really remember us until we are there. She also gets angry really easily. When we went to teach her onSaturday we took a permission form for Grandma to sign. It didn't go well and our investigator told us that in February she will turn 18. The plan is for us to come back then. Oh yeah, Grandma is also a J.W. So it all works out. We decided to just chat with her and still maintain a friendship. We started talking about some movies that she has seen recently. Somehow we landed on twilight and she said, " That's not a vampire! Thats a stripper- thats why he glitters! He is an eternal stripper!" We couldn't believe what had come out of her mouth. All we could do was laugh and move on. Then later we started laughing about it again and thought, oh goodness! We are so glad we don't have to worry about the media anymore! I can't wait to start teaching her again. ;)

As I said we have gained a new investigator this week. He is a referral (I'll call him Otto) and we had some trouble getting ahold of him and making appointments but it all worked out! Yesterday in our lesson he was telling us that a friend who is a member has talked alot about the chruch. So much to the point that Otto has dreamed about the chruch buildings being described by his friend. We are trying to figure out if it was the temple being described. During the lesson we asked Otto to pray about the Book of Mormon and if what we taught him was true. We kneeled down and he offered a beautiful prayer in Spanish. He is from Mexico but doesn't want to go the spanish missionaries. I asked him how he felt while praying and he said, "Peaceful. I feel like something good in my life is coming." Needless to say we were excited. I look forward to the experiences we will have with him.

I also had the wonderful opportunity to play the violin yesterday. I was quite surprised that I could even produce sound from the instrument it has been so long! Of course it comes with a price if a member hears.....hahaha I will be doing a muscial number here in the near future. I am super excited!

I think more than anything we have just been tracking down our investigators this week. They have gone missing for the last couple of days. We found them dont worry. ;)

Yesterday was 5th Sunday and so all 6 missionaries in our ward taught the combined lesson. Any guesses as to what we talked about..........? Missionary Work! We established expectations of what missionaries should be doing and what the members should be doing. It was all very positive and I think we helped the ward start thinking in terms of working in unity. I am excited for the new year to see where we go with the ward. We have a theme in our ward we are working towards it, Become Zion. Moses 7:18 talks about this and is very applicable. We have been told the members really liked it. However Im still not quite sure how the sisters can speak louder than the elders who had to get a microphone to be heard.....awkward.

 

I think 2013 in review would be this:

Miracles everyday!

Baptisms= Sugar, and others

Atonement

Temple

probably just missionary work in general

learning how to love

technology that allows me to communicate with family

 

Anyway not much else about our week. We are still working hard as always! I am excited for 2014! Have a great week!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

 

White Christmas!

This week has just flown by.  I honestly don't remember everything we did but I know we have worked really really hard this week. ;D 

For the last several nights Sister Bray and I have gone caroling as we knock on doors. It has made such a huge difference and opens people hearts just a little bit more to learning the message of the Gospel. And it fills us with the Spirit. It is so cool to teach about Christ through a song!!!!!! hahaha and they hardly realize it until its too late ;D heehee

The English side of our mission went to the temple this week. It was the best WHITE CHRISTMAS EVER! There were so many missionaries in the session! The spirit is always so strong and so invigorating. I always walk out of the temple motivated to go do missionary work! I had a very special surprise at the temple though. One of the YSA members came to go to the session so he could say hello! It was so exciting that day! However it is so hard to go to the temple. I get so drained! It is so hard to not just lay/sit down and take a nap! But I still LOVE it! 

I have been doing a lot of reflecting over the course of this week. Whether that is a good thing or not I am not quite sure. heehee I have thought a lot about the transformation that has occurred within myself as a missionary over the last year. When I first came out I did NOT want to stop people on the streets, bug them working in their yard, knock on doors. I guess I just wanted to have investigators just magically show up on our white board and then go teach them.....boy have I learned a lot! Sister Bray and I have had several experiences of meeting people and having them tell us our religion is not for them, or that they don't need religion in their lives. I have walked away almost every time near tears because I finally understand how the Atonement is necessary. I realized that each and every person needs the Atonement. I just can't seem to make it clear enough to them that the Restoration of Christs church was necessary and that because of Apostasy they are being lead astray. WHY DON'T THEY UNDERSTAND? WHY WONT THEY LISTEN?????? The reason....because its True! I have taken almost a year to understand this concept as well and its very simple; Satan is miserable and wants as many people as he can influence to not make it into the Celestial Kingdom just because he wont be there too. He is so selfish!!!!!! I want to fight this war with Satan and I want to succeed. I want to stop everyone! I want to talk with everyone. They have to know what they are turning down! If they don't know what they are saying no to, how will they ever be influenced to say yes? I have studied the Atonement almost every day this week and it has been amazing! Not on purpose but it has just worked out that way. ;) This is such a special season to reflect on everything that Christs birth really meant. He was born into this world because of Heavenly Fathers love for us and because of His love for His brothers and Sisters. I know that His sacrifice is for us individually and collectively. I feel the effects of the Atonement everyday as a missionary. It makes me want to be a better missionary to understand better and more deeply the Doctrine of the Gospel, to do all I can to one day say to the Lord I did my best to fill the empty seats in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is what the Atonement is all about. Until I better understood the Atonement my desire was not strong enough to act. Now it is strong and now I am acting more on my desires to share the gospel. Its Christmas time and people need to know the good news!!!!!!!!

Our week was pretty mediocre otherwise. We have walked a ton and have talked to a lot of people. We have many many potential investigators we are meeting this next week. 

I am so grateful to be on my mission for another Christmas season. I love it!  

Oh yeah, hahaha we set a baptismal date with our investigator this week! He is so wonderful and is really doing all that he can to come to Christ. He is from El Salvador and his family owns a pupusaeria!!!!! YUM! It works out for everyone. 

Well I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that you take time to remember Christ.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

Where to Start??

This week has been abnormal to say the least.

Well we had Zone Conference this week and it was amazing! We learned about the Atonement and the true meaning of Christmas. We talked about the story of Christ's Birth and applied it to missionaries. The angels that proclaimed glad tidings of great joy are us! That is our purpose. To proclaim the gospel and to bring great joy to the souls of men! It was so motivating and it really just makes me want to go knock and doors and say, "Have you heard the news?!? Christ lives! And because He lives His church has been restored to the earth!" But then again most days I'm too chicken to do that! ;)

We had several appointments this week with potential investigators and investigators. Our one investigator totally dropped us hard core. Sister Bray and I felt like we had been broken up with. We were so sad and irritated at this kid. But if he listens to the promptings of the Holy Ghost eventually he will come around. We really just had adventures all week. We went to one lesson with a member who brought her 3 month old son, the person didn't end up showing. His family owned the restaurant where we were meeting him and they don't speak English. Eventually they had a customer translate for us and we left. We went home and just as we were sitting down to hot soup for dinner the phone rang and lo and behold it was our investigator. He told us he was available then and at the restaurant. We left our soup and rushed over there. The lesson went very well and we picked up a new investigator! He even made pupusas for us! Sister Bray is hooked now! heeheehee

The next day we got a phone call from our district leader asking us if we wanted a new investigator with a baptismal date. Of course we said yes! However the details attached to this person came with a risk. I am not at liberty to give all the details over email. However we were sent in there to assess the situation based off the information we had from her past. aka see if she is crazy. She is in the Elders area but President asked that we go instead because it may have been too dangerous for the Elders to go there. I hope I haven't confused you yet. Basically we had 2 elders in the vicinity during the lesson our zone leaders had to be told when we went in and came out of the lesson. We had to have a text prepared to have the 2 elders come and help us if needed. Our mission president is aware of everything that was happening, and the background behind it. We also had to have 2 members with us during the lesson. It was all very exciting. :/ We had to park pretty far away from our appointment and we were almost late. So we decided to jog part of the way to make our trip quicker. Well let me give a scripture to explain what happened next.... Doctrine and Covenants 61:3-4,6 "But verily I say unto you, that it is not needful for...mine Sisters to be moving swiftly upon the [sidewalks of California in long maxi skirts], whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief. Nervertheless, I suffered it that ye might bear record; behold, there are many dangers upon [the sidewalks], and more especially [when you run]. Nevertheless, all flesh is in mine hand, and he that is faithful among you shall not perish [on] the [sidewalk.]"

If you haven't made any assumptions yet I pretty much biffed it on the sidewalk. I didn't take the time to check my knees because I was in a hurry. Well by the time I sat down on the couch I could feel the blood and the sting..... Yeah it was bad. Luckily my companion carries a first aid kit with her at all times and after our appointment I was able to clean up mine wounds. hahahaha  The appointment went well enough, better than expected and we picked up a new investigator. The next day was our ward Christmas party and there was a roasted pig. The pictures are disgusting haha. The food was amazing. This new investigator came (we forgot she was coming) much to our surprise. During the dinner she randomly asked us when our birthdays are. We told her the months and then she proceeded to say, "Oh, on the ______." We would correct her and she would just nod her head. When she left the party Sister Bray and I started feeling sick. The whole thing was just weird. We left soon after her and talked about our feelings on the way home and the situation that we are dealing with. When I went to go unlock the door to the apartment I got a huge prompting to not go inside. It terrified me since I was just about to turn the handle. We went down to our car and called the zone leaders. They came over and by that point we felt fine to go into the apartment. We asked for blessings and talked about what had happened that night. They suggested we stop teaching this sister and to call president. The blessings they gave us were terrifying and comforting at the same time. In my blessing they cast out Satan and any of his followers and proceeded to give the comforting part of the blessing. When the Elders left I started to cry. I explained to Sister Bray that for the last couple weeks I kept getting the prompting to find in the scriptures how to cast out Satan and that lines in my patriarchal blessing had kept coming to mind that would have applied to the evening. She looked at me and said, "I opened my eyes during your blessing and saw angels stand in to give you your blessing." We both cried and felt the Lords love enter into our hearts and our home. The next day we were exhausted and could barely function. The Lord is truly knowing and protects His missionaries. Unless its a sidewalk. =) President Hall has given us permission to not teach this lady but we are waiting for some information first before we make that decision.

This weekend we went to a house we had previously tracked into. We had been told to come back by a girl who looked to be 14 years old. She opened the door and we unexpectedly started teaching her on the doorstep. She is actually 17 and LOVES to talk! She is also a new investigator. So it has been a week of miracles! The Lord has stayed close to us and we know it!

I love you all! Van Nuys is amazing sidewalks and crazy people included.

This next week is going to be great! I promise I'll be safer this week. =D

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

Changes!

A week of change is always scary at first. However with time everything and everyone settles in and the adjustment is made. This week has been full of changes!!!!!! To start off I have a new companion. Her name is Sister Emily Bray. This is my second companion in a row whose first name is Emily!!!!! Its just meant to be hahaha. She is from Riverton Wyoming. She is 21 years old and has a fiancé at home. (She said yes on conditions she can go on a mission. He purposed thinking he could change her mind. poor guy.) She is so adorable and I love her very much. When went out for the first day she worked like she has been out for 6 months! It was so COOL! I love being with her and we are both learning a lot from each other.

I am opening a new area in the sense that the ward I have gone to now has 3 sets of missionaries. The first ward to have 3 in the English half of our mission!!!!!!! Its a new experience. The area I am in is Van Nuys. I must request that you do not go and look up information or pictures of this part of town. There are pockets of good neighborhoods but mostly this is the true ghetto of the mission. There are streets we have been given strict instruction to stay off of at night. There are a lot of gangs and drug addicts. Please do not worry. We are playing it smart and safe as much as we possibly can. We go to members homes at night and street contact and door knock during the day. We are still trying to figure out all the logistics of it. Its a work in progress. Our bishop has given us 5 names per week that he wants us to visit. We were able to contact all of ours and we even got 2 less-active sisters to come to church yesterday! We taught 1 lesson to our only investigator and we are close to dropping him. We are told by the Elders in our ward that the area we are in hasn't ever really been worked through. So we are starting from scratch! ;D The ward is very welcoming to us. There are many, many different cultures here. The majority of them are English and Philippino. Our first dinner came from a Philippino family. We aren't sure what we ate and we aren't going to ask anytime soon. Im still not sure if I liked it or not. Someone suggested cow vien.......weird.

Miracles and funny stories:

I'll start with funny stories. We went to visit one of the less-actives. The house had been dark for a couple of days so we started to get worried since she is Elderly. When no one came to the door after we knocked I decided I would look through the mail slot to see if there was a light on. (Her door has brown glass) As I was bent over looking in all of the sudden I saw someone walking towards the door! I immediately pulled back blushing from my little spying escapade.... The door never opened! Then the mail man came walking up. I offered to put the mail in for him so I could either replace my foolishness or do a good deed. Pick which ever one you choose to believe. They are both true. I decided to knock on the door one more time while we were having a good hearty laugh and our member finally opened to door. She was completely oblivious to what had happened and it made us laugh even harder. hahahaha She came to church on Sunday! She said it was because she was supporting us because we were giving our testimonies. We later found out from a friend of hers that she said, "The girls always out shine the boys!" Our sacrament program was given by all of the missionaries either giving a testimony or talking on the lessons we teach.

Another funny story is that we were driving like we always do. A yellow jeep cut right across 2 lanes of traffic to make it to the turn lane. I was startled but not upset. When we pulled up next to them I noticed they were sheepishly looking at us. We started laughing and then we just kept looking back and forth. All of us were laughing about it without talking to each other. What made it even funnier was that they were older gentlemen! California drivers are CRAZY!

ummm.... oh yeah miracles. Besides our two less actives coming to church we had some really awesome experiences finding. One day we decided to knock a certain street. I was getting frustrated with all the polite turn downs. I was feeling quite done with the street but decided to just do a couple more doors. A young man was walking out to his car when we stopped him. We started teaching him about having faith in Christ. He mentioned to us that it is the only thing he has to pull him through this rough time. His parents are separating and he isn't happy with it. Why people just decided to open up to us perplexes me but I am glad that they can. This young man provided a light during a dark moment for me that day and I am eternally grateful we pushed on. Later on that day we went street contacting just before dark. We stopped another young man. He said he wasn't in the mood but I felt prompted to give him a card with the YSA info on it. When he got it and looked at it he very seriously said, "Thank you for not passing by." That was it. We wished him well and continued on. Sister Bray has very quickly picked up when a miracle happens. She will just stop and look wide eyed as she reviews the moment and then says something about the miracle. Its so awesome!!!!

Probably the most prominent memory of the week was last night. We went to yet another less-actives home. She didn't know we were coming so it was a surprise. We got to know her a little bit. She is getting married in a couple weeks and had skipped out on church that day. I offered to say a prayer before we left. I felt like it was just a normal prayer for someone but when I opened my eyes she was crying and kept saying, "O, that touched my heart." The spirit was strong. I also noticed that her fiancé had turned off the TV while the prayer was being said. It was just a cool experience.

Well I think that is it. I am safe don't worry. There are lots of miracles to be had this next week.

Love you all lots! Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

Seasons!

There is a new season to every missionary that comes around in its cycle every 6 weeks. This season is called Transfers. The signs of its coming usually effect each individual. Symptoms may include (but are not limited to): profuse sweating, a pit feeling in the stomach, heart racing, a lack of concentration, sleepless nights, worry, concern, tears, slow movement, and dread. To be prepared for these symtoms it is suggested that you carry the following with you at all times: tissues, camera, scriptures, address book, and a good joke. ^_^

Yes that season has come around once again. The week of transfers is always the worst! You do everything you can to ignore its coming but somehow it is always present in the back of your mind. Saturday morning I was chastized through the scriptures. In Jacob 4:10 it says to stop trying to counsel the Lord but to take cousel from the Lord. In other words be willing to accept the Lords will regarding transfers. It made me laugh but hit home. I tried the whole day to forget about transfers and just work. Transfer calls came late eveningSaturday night. We were driving to our appointment with Sugar. We had waited all day to receive the call and there was nothing I could do to stop the call from coming in when it came. The saddest words I have ever heard are, "Sister Cottrell you are getting transfered." The tears could not be held back at this point. I knew it was coming I just didn't want to admit it. We did arrive safely at our destination. Luckily we were early and I was able to get control of myself and my tears. I knew that this lesson was going to be very difficult if I couldn't get everything under control. Right before we walked in I had a very deep impression come. It went something like this, "Sister Cottrell, you have come here for a specific reason and you have completed what you were sent here to do." I immediately knew that my purpose in this ward was to teach both Sugar and Mistletoe. (We met Mistletoe the same time as Sugar, she is getting baptized in April) Sugar is baptized and Mistletoe is done with the lessons and is on her way. It was a comforting thought. I know that Heavenly Father heard my prayers and blessed me with the ability to set everything aside and focus on our lesson. We told Sugar and her boyfriend after the lesson. They were sad but understand. I think Sugar is more comfortable now with me leaving than before. When we got home that night I cried and cried and cried. I had to. I knew that if I didn't I would be a mess on Sunday.

Our Bishop isn't happy with the change and he is being extremely sentimental about it all, which is totally okay with me. In fact we are having lunch with him today and then His wife has requested that we go over for dinner. It is going to be hard to say goodbye but I believe he might be going out to Utah in July. ;D Several people knew about the transfer before coming to church so they were prepared but the hardest thing was the hugs and reaction to the news. I brought a box of tissues with me just in case I couldn't a rock (in other words stable) with my emotions. I made it all the way through church with out crying and then we had break the fast. Right before the prayer was said Bishop asked me to come and stand next to him. The stinker had everyone sing "God Be With You." I told him he was a jerk and he laughed and said he had to. His main intent was to get me to cry, and he definitely succeeded. It was a bet between us if I would. When they finished singing I said, "I hate and love you all." We laughed and moved on with the dinner. I have many many pictures from yesterday. Quite a few are funny and so perfectly display the kind of people I am here with and love to pieces. I find much comfort in the fact that I will be coming back to visit (well I will be trying as hard as I can) in September and Decemeber due to WEDDINGS! I found out yesterday that a sister in our ward who is very dear to me is officially engaged!

Sacrament meeting was so exciting. Sugar, Gem, and Mistletoe all came to church plus one of our Potential investigators!!!!! I was shocked we got everyone there! Also Sugar bore her testimony!!!!!! She shared an experience that she had as a little girl with feeling the presence of the Holy Ghost and told us that until she was baptized she hadn't ever (consciously) felt it again. She also told us that when she was baptized the anger that she has held onto for many many years regarding her ex- husband and father has simply vanished. It just doesn't exist anymore. As she was talking I couldn't help but be proud of her and be very sentimental about it all. She has come so far and I know she will be an asset to any ward she attends. Misteltoe told us later that as she was listening to Sugar it was making her want to get up there and give her testimony too! But the meeting ended before she could get up the courage. However she did play the piano for Sacrament meeting and I was just as proud of her for doing that and doing it well!

I have learned so much about myself and the people my age just by being in this ward. I have been so very blessed to have been here for so long now. I am going to miss it desperately but I know deep within my heart that this is my time to leave the ward. I have done what I was sent here to do. I wonder if this is how the Savior felt at the last supper. Did he cry knowing he would be leaving, for a time, the people he loved most? Did he fight a battle within knowing what His responsibility was and the natural mans selfesh desires to stay?  Its a deep thought but one that has been on my mind.

I think the hardest part of this all is moving forward. Transfers are hard enough but waiting for the call from President Hall is even harder. That call also came Saturday night. I have been released from being a Sister Training Leader and have been reassigned as a trainer.....again. Right before last transfers I had made a promise with Heavenly Father. I told him that if he would let me stay Sister Training Leader one more transfer I would willingly train for the rest of my mission. It appears that the Lord has taken me up on the promise. I remained a Sister Training Leader for one more transfer and now I am training. The reason I made this promise is because 1. I wanted to stay a STL 2. He knows how terrified I am to try to train agian. I have to keep rememering my part of the promise: I will not only willingly train but remember everyday the promise but that I will be happy about it, I will love my companion, and that I will do everything I can to train her to be the servant He wants her to become. President Hall's words to me Saturday night have been comforting. He assured me that I have done much good for the Sisters I had stewardship over, that I have changed alot of missions, and that this release is not a demotion. There is no such thing as a career advancement as a missionary. It was a hard decision to make to release me but he knew that it is time for someone else to be called to be a STL that may not be ready but who needs the opportunity to grow into the assignment. I am not sure who it will be to take my place but I know the Lord will be there to help her just as he has been there fore me.

So we are moving on! I will be going to a new area and I will be training a new sister, who I will see today but I will not know till tomorrow who it will be. In fact as of right now our missionaries should be at the SLC airport hee hee hee.

Thanksgiving was wonderful and we ate 2 dinners and drank water at the 3rd. We could barely move we were so full!!!!!!!!! It was so good to see how all the different cultures celebrate Thanksgiving. That night we wanted to go and attack the people who were standing in lines for Black Friday. We knew they wouldn't be leaving their spots in the lines so they would just have to listen to us, right? hahaha Well that plan got stopped in its tracks when we saw just how many security guards were present at the mall and at best buy. We decided to be good little missionaries and just street contact around the areas. It was fun and so weird at the same time. People just get goofy on Thanksgiving......

We also had Interviews on Tuesday. We helped do a training with our whole zone while the missionaries went to meet with President Hall, and Sister Arnold (our mission nurse.) It was a long rewarding day.

Just a little thought about the Christmas Season......It is so important for us to remember the real meaning of Christmas. I hear a story yesterday that I would like to share with you.

There was a mother who was going to her childs elementary school Christmas performance. During the performance several of the little children would hold up letters that spelled, "Chrismas Love." This particular day the little girl holding up the "m" was holding it upside down making the phrase read, "Christ Was Love." The children didn't know what was going on but all the parents saw it and it touched their hearts. I just want you to remember the truth of this statement. Christ was Love! That was His mission on this earth. To show the world the love He possess' by making the sacrifice to die for us so that not only we can be forgiven of our sins but to live with Heavenly Father again. This is the meaning ofChristmas to remember Christs birth out of Love for us.

Well I think that is it folks!!!! I love you all and miss you tons! Have a wonderful week as it is the start of the Christmas Season.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell