week 37: "Oh! We have Sisters now!"

Monday, Aug 15th, 2016

   This week was a whirlwind! Whew! I still can't believe I am in
Auburn! I guess I knew I was leaving, but never did I think I would be
shot gun training! It was kind of hard leaving Lincoln. I absolutely
loved the members there and the investigators. But I know it was all
in the Lords timing and that His hand is in all things!

     On Tuesday we spent the day getting all packed up and a TON of
driving around! Sister C. is training as well and was so kind to
drive me up to Auburn to help me get settled in. We cleaned a bit and
got unpacked! We moved into an Elders apartment, but it was actually
ALOT cleaner than I expected. We live in a finished garage of a
members home. Well, you walk into the garage and there is a ginormous RV
and off to the side are three doors; one for the bedroom/study room,
one for the bathroom and one for the kitchen. It's quite an odd set
up, but it works. It's nice and safe, the only down side is that it
smells like a garage.

Sister Cannon & Sister Gore

We then drove down to the mission office to do some car switcheroos,
then headed to Lincoln to do more companion meet ups and dinner. I
then spent the night with Sister Canann and Sister Singer! I just love
them! So in my two other areas I had replaced Singer so we had a ton
of people to talk about!

Wednesday was just craziness! We went to the mission office to pick up
our beautiful new trainees! The Spirit was so strong! Like it's
always strong around missionaries, but they are fresh from the MTC,
one of the most spiritual places ever. I had a guess of who would be
mine but I wasn't for sure!

We had lots of meetings, where President gave us council on who we are
as trainers and what to do to help these brand new, full of fire
missionaries!

Then it was time to meet our new companions and drum roll
please.....SISTER DEE!! She is so wonderful! She is small but mighty!

She is full of optimism and fire and just wants to serve!! President talked to us because we are in a little bit of a different situation since we are pink washing (both missionaries leaving an area and two new missionaries replacing them). He gave us some instructions on things to do. He wanted to make sure we knew that God would help us and to take time to sit and ponder in the beautiful nature here. I am grateful for that council. I'm grateful that I am faced with this
exciting challenge in such a beautiful place. It's crazy how much
strength I receive from being in the midst of some of my favorite of
Gods creations. I love the mountains and the forests here so there is
no place I would rather be!

I got to see some of my old Redding friends and that's always fun! We
got some pictures and headed on the road! Some Elders in our zone who
are also training let us follow them up which was so kind, because my
navigational skills are not good haha
Oh yeah I get to drive a Nissan Truck!! I'm super excited about that!!

Since we didn't have a dinner and we got home kind of late, we spent
the night unpacking/cleaning then got in-n-out for dinner!  It's like
5 mins from our house I love it! We went over to the members we live
with, the N’s and introduced Sister D. to them! They are the
sweetest couple and I am excited to get to know them better!

Thursday morning we got a call from a sweet lady in the ward trying to
contact the missionaries. We told her to look no further! Haha Well
she has a 16 year old adopted son names Justin who she said might be
ready for the lessons! So we set it up for Sunday night! It was
amazing to see a miracle happen so soon! I was grateful too that
Sister D. could have a solid teaching experience her first week in
the mission.

      We then went to Zone meeting! But we got lost, as usual and we
were a half hour late haha but everyone was super nice about it and
completely understood. We talked about iPads and the importance of
keeping a good area book. I was so proud of my area book in my last
couple areas. It is so incredibly important to keep an accurate
account of what you have done and who you have seen. This is just a
small piece of the Lords vineyard in which the Lord has placed His
trust in us. I want to be able to accountable for all the work I did
on my mission. What is recorded on earth is recorded in heaven, and I
want the Lord to know that I take my calling as a disciple of Him
seriously and that He can rely on me to find and help His children.
When we got here, the area book was a disaster. Nothing was organized,
there were multiple records for the same person, the calendar was
completely blank, it stressed me out. Anyways, I told Sister Dee that
this was a good example of what not to do haha I am so excited to
clean up this area and this area book!!

We then went to the Friendship Club, which is an organization that
helps young girls stay out of trouble and help them go to college and
get jobs! We stuffed envelopes for them, but it was super fun to help
out and to hang out with the other missionaries too!

That night we went up to Foresthills for dinner! It is absolutely
gorgeous up there! It reminds me of Redding, with the mountains, trees
and the people. I can tell that I am absolutely going to love serving
up here!

Friday was the most intense planning session of my entire life. We
went through all of our investigators and called them to try to set up
appointments. Unfortunately, the majority of them did not get back to
us, but we kept chugging along. I think we called at least 30 people.
I started to feel like a robot! So we went through our formers and
potentials and did a lot of sifting out. It already looks so much
better! We have a TON of finding for this week, so we will be busy
busy busy!

Saturday we continued to call people with little to no luck! But
that's okay! The Lord sees our efforts and will bless us for it! We
drove up to Foresthills to visit some potentials and members. Little
luck, but we were able to get a return appointment with a sweet less
active lady so we are excited about that! We then received a text from
our dinner appointment to see if we could come right now, it was 3
o'clock haha so we had a bit of an early dinner, but it worked out so
that we could meet with the branch mission leader and branch president
that night. They are both such sweet men with a strong desire to serve
the Lord and help us in uplifting this area. They both said that the
members are strong, but not very missionary minded, so we hope that we
can help them with that!

Sunday was wonderful! The members we live with gave talks on temples
and the importance of temple work. They were both beautiful talks. I
wish I could go to the Temple every week, better yet every day. But I
can only go every three months. I want to challenge you to go to the
Temple often. If you can't go, prepare yourself to go. If it's been a
while, make plans to go back. I know that Temples are holy dedicated
houses of the Lord, I am so grateful for them and the Spirit that is
there.

That night we had a great lesson with Justin. A few of his friends
from the Ward were there and that made such a difference. The young
men each bore there testimonies on different principles and were able
to help him understand. We could tell that he felt the Spirit, it was
powerful. He looked little teary as we talked about Joseph Smith.
That is one of my favorite parts of the restoration. I was able to
recite the first vision, and it was an incredible feeling to be able
to then testify of the truthfulness of that event and of the
Restoration of the gospel. I know with all my heart that this church
is true. That Christ established His church on the earth, and through
the prophet Joseph Smith it was restored back on the earth. I know
that he truly did see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I know
that he, with the power of God, translated the Book of Mormon. I know
that the Book of Mormon is true, that it is the word of God and that
He gave it to us be due He loves us and wants us to be happy.

Sister Dee & Sister Gore

I know without a doubt in my heart that this Church is true. I am so
grateful to be a missionary for my Savior.

I love y'all so much!
Keep the faith!
Sister Gore🙌🏻