Lots of Updates

Hey family!

We didn't get to write yesterday because of Veterans day, so we have very little time to write today, but I'll try to see what I can do in the next 20 minutes. (This may be slightly scrambled!)

This last week was definitely one of the busiest of my mission, we taught so many lessons it was ridiculous! Hopefully this week shapes up to be the same. I am exhausted. So exhausted that yesterday morning both Sister Anderson and I slept right through the alarm clock, something that neither of us have ever done before! Luckily Sister Anderson woke up at 7:10 and realized what had happened and we both jumped out of bed (Or more like flopped out of bed.) I'm not sure how much longer I can do this kind of schedule, it is so draining in every way. It's funny though, because I can't exactly pray for fewer people to teach, I can only pray for more strength. He is blessing us too much!!!!!!!

Tina and Earl Blackmer are on date to be baptized December 14th!!! So funny story. Weeks and weeks ago we were going to contact a potential, and the potentials neighbor was just getting out of her car and called to us, asking if we were the mormon missionaries. She told us that she was a less active member who was baptized years and years ago in Oregon, but she felt very pushed into her baptism, so she didn't really understand and she wanted us to come back and reteach her the lessons. We've been teaching them for a few weeks now, all the while trying to figure out why we couldn't get their records. Last week they met with the bishop and found out that their daughter who is very opposed to the church had forged a letter asking to have their names removed, so they are no longer members. Tina and Earl told the Bishop that their faith has been renewed in recent weeks. It took having their records removed and hearing the lessons again to make them appreciate what a blessing it is to be a member of the church, and they are now preparing for baptism! Tina came to church on Sunday, and Earl is coming with her next Sunday! The Lord works in mysterious ways sometimes. :)

Jana has come to church 3 times now, and is loving it! It sounds like she feels that she may not be ready for a committment yet, even though she has told us that she believes Joseph Smith was a prophet, she believes the Book of Mormon is true, and has committed to keep all the commandments that we have taught her so far. Not sure what the disconnect is there, so hopefully we can figure that out when we see her later this week.

Steve is now on date for December 28. We decided that he needs more time for preparation and understanding. He didn't make it to church again :( He has a real desire to be baptized, and has expressed some very personal things to us regarding that decision on a few occasions, so we're still working to figure out what the disconnect is there too. The adversary works overtime on the strong, is what I'm thinking.

I think December is that best time to be baptized, because not only do you get to give the Savior a really excellent gift, but you get to start the new year fresh.

Scripture of the week: Alma 26:37. No explanation necessary. What does this scripture mean to all of you?

We got permission for Sister Bonham to do Jillian Michaels workouts in the mornings, so if I come home and you're wondering why I'm so ripped and toned, that would be why... :) If the Tillamook Mudslide ice cream in our freezer doesn't interfere, that is. :)

Love you all!

Sister Slade

P.S. Next tuesday is transfers. Eek!

Hey family!

Drum roll please... my companion and I have been asked to serve in the HALLS LAKE YSA ward!!! I am so excited! It's pretty crazy because prior to finding out our assignment I had been feeling like I was going to be put in a bike area, possibly in one of the smaller northern towns in the mission. I couldn't have been further away from the truth. I'm convinced that President purposely put me in the assignment that would scare me the most. He has a way of doing that. Our area basically covers suburban Seattle up to suburban Everett. YSA covers the whole stake, and half of our area is actually in the Seattle mission. I can relate to Elder Slade's comments about driving in Miami, because after being in Oak Harbor for so long, I am not used to the traffic and being smack dab in the middle of a big city. Because we work only with YSA ages 18-30, the work involves a ton of tracting, and a lot of giving referrals and hoping to receive them in return.

My companion is Sister Glancy, from Roosevelt, Utah. I LOVE her!! Basically we are the same person. It's so funny. She is so compassionate and gentle. She is tenderhearted and loving and already she has been such a good example to me! It's funny because after President paired us together she told me that when I had come up to meet her and the other new missionaries a few hours earlier, she had gotten a very distinct feeling that I was going to be her trainer, and what do you know! Sister Anderson told me the same thing when I was paired with her 2 transfers ago. President truly is inspired. Sister Glancy and I have this thing, I'm not even sure how it started, it just happened, where for our spiritual thought that we share with members we sing a hymn for them. I love it! (In case you were wondering, having dinner with members in a YSA ward consists of camping out on the living room floor eating Dominos pizza. :))

Being in a YSA ward is so different. But I've heard that once you go YSA, you never want to go back! You spend a ton of time with the members, which doesn't fully seem like missionary work. I feel like I'm back at BYU in some ways, but not. It's the weirdest thing. For example, every Thursday night we go to the church and play volleyball. Monday nights we have F.H.E., and on Wednesdays we can attend institute. This first week has been a little bit bumpy, especially since our first few days in the area we didn't have a map or organized area book or supplies or anything else. But somehow we've gotten through, and I know that this is going to be an amazing experience! We will be splitting the area with the Lynnwood Zone Leaders, Elder Combe and Elder Caruso. They have been a huge help to us. Elder Combe was my zone leader when I was born into Oak Harbor, and from what I've heard, He and Elder Caruso have been leading the mission. They are really excellent missionaries, and Sister Glancy and I are looking forward to learning more from them about how to develop our faith and love for the people! Tomorrow the Elders are going to show us how to contact at Edmonds Community College. Sister Glancy and I are strongly considering soap boxin it up. We figure, if it scares us, we should probably do it. WOO HOO!!!!

Elder Bednar came and spoke to all the missionaries in our mission on Saturday and it was amazing! We basically had a question-and-answer type meeting and the spirit was so strong! I learned a lot. I feel like writing about it doesn't do it justice, there was just so much! One thing that was emphasized is that President Monson has stated that the time for planting seeds is long past, and the time for harvesting is here. As exciting as this was to me, at the same time it made me feel a little bit sad too. I don't want it to be time yet when there are still hundreds that say no every week. The number of people we meet here who claim to be atheists is staggering to me, even more so than in Oak Harbor, and sometimes I walk away from a door feeling completely sick to my stomach with sadness for the lack of faith and hope that we see. Elder Bednar brought a much needed boost to my spiritual stamina after a crazy week filled with lots of change!

I'm about out of time. We only have an hour to email today, since our P-Day was moved to thanksgiving, But to close I just want to express how incredibly grateful I am for everything that the Lord has given me in my life. I feel overwhelmed pretty much all the time here when I think, "How did I ever get to be so blessed?" I am so grateful for family and friends and for a Heavenly Father who love me. I wouldn't be here is if it weren't for them. I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ which truly is the only way to find happiness. I am thankful for all of the tender mercies that we see every day, which are too numerous to count.

Thank you all for all of your prayers. Keep up that DAILY scripture study and prayer, even when your life feels too busy. In the words of Elder Bednar, "You make time for the things that matter most. If you're not making time then obviously it doesn't mean that much to you." Can't argue with a General Authority!

Love, Sister Slade

P.S. The scripture of the week is 1 Nephi 3:7. No matter how overwhelmed or how inadequate we may sometimes feel with the path that is placed before us in our lives, the Lord will never give us more than we can handle, and he will never leave us to do it on our own. I know that He lives! He is in the very details of our lives. He is in control, and he will never let us fail as long as we are willing to let Him catch us. Most of all, I KNOW that He loves us! Love you all!

Hello family!

I hope that you are enjoying your cruise! You are probably nice and warm and toasty right now, soak up that sunshine for me! The other day we were talking to a street contact and I started to compare faith to knowing that the sun will rise the next day just like in the primary song and then we all started laughing because we realized... wait a second... we're in Washington. Chances are, the sun probably won't shine tomorrow! haha

Whew! What a week! Sister Glancy and I had the chance to meet quite a few people from our ward in church yesterday, and that was great. (We had stake conference last week.) The YSA ward is so different, it reminds me of BYU in that they announced that everyone should "Come to the reception for Kristen and Tyler next weekend" in relief society, and one of the guys in our ward who got up on Sunday said that "I want to bare my testimony, that God has some of the best looking children out there in this ward." The greatest was in Missionary Correlation Meeting when we were discussing whether or not a girl the ward has been working with has officially been reactivated, and Bishop Knoblaugh said, "I happen to know from an inside source who shall remain anonymous that one of the guys in our ward took her on a date." There was a sudden chorus of "Oh yeah, she's reactivated! She's definitely reactivated!" and that was the end of the discussion. So funny!

I had to laugh at Elder Slade's picture last week of the Krispy Kreme donut boxes, because the apartment we moved into used to be the AP's, so it has been an Elder's apartment since the beginning of time, and let me tell you, the Elder's over the years have left some very interesting stuff there. The good news is we found a box of Christmas stuff in the closet! Last night Sister Glancy and I decorated and got really geared up for what is going to be the best Christmas of our lives! Every night until Christmas we put our Santa hats on, sit by the picture of Christ by the fireplace, turn on the Christmas lights, and we're taking turns choosing a Christmas hymn to sing. I'm still trying to decided what I'm going to put in Sister Glancy's stocking. It can be kinda hard to surprise someone when you're with them 24-7. :)

Sister Glancy and I were blessed to find a few new investigators this week, some more promising than others. One was a guy named Avery who we contacted at the college, but unfortunately when it came to keeping commitments he texted us and said, "Hey look, I'm not actually interested in becoming Mormon, I just think you guys are really cute. Can you come over again so I can get to know you better?" That was a huge bummer. Then there was the guy who said, "I don't care about your message, but I have to tell you, you are one smokin' hot religious lady." YSA missionary work is so different. We decided that our new game plan is to grow unibrows and proselyte in pajamas so that from now on we know if a guy really is an earnest seeker of truth.

We are excited about an investigator named Jose that we taught a first lesson to this week though! He was a referral from the Spanish sisters who have started teaching his mom who doesn't speak any English at all. Jose had already read all of the restoration pamphlet and started on the Book of Mormon when we went over, so he looks very promising!

We also started teaching an Indian guy named Ram who the Elders taught a while back. Ram is from India and there is definitely a language barrier there. It has given us good practice with teaching very simply and clearly. The elders told us to gauge his accountability by how well he keeps commitments. I don't think I mentioned this last week, but there is SO much diversity here! I love it! It's totally normal to see a woman walking down the street in a burqa, and last week we went into this Asian grocery store to use the restroom, and I swear the place was the size of a warehouse. It can be a little bit difficult because we've had quite a few instances where a language barrier has prevented us from being able to talk to someone, but it's been an experience.

Something that I came across in my study this week that I absolutely loved is Luke 9:62, which says "And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." I realized this morning that as of today I have exactly a year until I go home. It feels like a long time but it's really not. I had this overwhelming feeling come over me that I absolutely do not want to waste even one minute of my mission. I know that this is time that is consecrated to the Lord. When we give our all to the Lord, I know that He blesses us.

Well, love you all!

Mail is a missionaries favorite gift at Christmas time! :)

Love, Sister Slade

P.S. Please tell Paul that WE FOUND A CHIPOTLE! Tender mercies of the Lord. :)

P.P.S. Bennett sent me an email with a 19 page report he wrote entitled "My LDS Conversion" that was absolutely beautiful. Only Bennett would do something like that. It may or may not have made me cry, but knowing me, that's probably no surprise to you all. :)