Transfers

Dear Friends and Family:

Transfer call information came in yesterday. Elder Slade: transfers. Elder Bailey... also transfers. They're whitewashing our area. Elder Harper is transferring across the hall, he's going to be taking over the area with some other, unknown missionary. And Elder Burgoyne is training this transfer. (He said that he's going to train by positive reinforcement - he'll keep a bunch of mints, and every time his trainee does something good, he'll give him a mint.)

Elder Bailey and I are both confused and surprised at what is happening this week at transfers. We were both expecting me to leave, but not that both of us would. So we're both packing up, and setting the area right for Elder Harper and whoever else comes in.

It's really hard to believe that I'm leaving Boynton Beach, I've been here 6 months already, and I've become friends with so many of the members and others in the area. But if God wants that, then I guess that's all right.

We had a terrific week. Matt Ellsworth, who also referred himself to us, was baptized on Sunday. He is here just for the summer, in order to go to medical school. He said that throughout his life, he has always felt that the church is true, and he has always wanted to be a member of the church because they have the spirit with them more. That was one of the reasons that he decided to be baptized. Also, he is excited to go to the temple, and to be baptized for the dead.

Daphne wasn't able to come to church because of food poisoning. Darn.

We had yet another miracle this week as we were harvesting. We found a member who was baptized in Haiti, who didn't know where the church was here. He hadn't been to church in a long time, and he wanted to come. We're so grateful that God gave us the opportunity to see that miracle and to be able to direct him back to church.

I'm sad that I'm missing everything that is happening at home. Seeing everyone grow up, seeing the house be changed around, seeing all of my siblings continue to go to school. I miss all of you!

Thanks, I love you,

Elder Slade

Independence Day at the MTC

Hello world! Greetings from this wonderful country known as the Missionary Training Center! Seriously though sometimes this place feels like it is a whole different world, you only see people in a certain culture and the time moves so strangely. Sister Hill has put it very well, "The days feel like weeks, but the weeks feel like days." There have been many a moment when we turn to each other and ask "remember a couple of days ago when sister Jeter got 13 letters" and it had just happened that morning. Speaking of Letters. I love you guys but I only have one hour to email, only one day out of the week, however I can receive and respond to letters every day of the week during my hour of free time before I head to bed. Please either snail mail me or Dear Elder me. Not only does it make things more efficient but then I get to feel that lovely feeling of being loved when a letter comes my way.

As many know it was Fourth of July this past Friday. We were dismissed from classes around three hours early and shepherded into the auditorium for a devotional, (I think this was just a tactic for us Elders and Sisters not to hear Carrie Underwood perform at the Stadium of Fire 400 metres away from the MTC.) It was the most lovely devotional I have ever experienced. The speaker spoke on how being a hero is not something just found through firefighting or police work. In fact we can all be heroes, the greatest hero was Jesus Christ, he suffered our sins for us in the garden of Gethsemane so that we could return to our Heavenly Father and still have our agency, or our ability to choose. After this beautiful talk we were surprised with a viewing of the amazing movie "17 Miracles" which is a beautiful story of LDS Pioneers trekking across the West to Utah. We were then conveinently let out after "Sister Underwood" had finished singing (President Nally, the MTC President, actually said this at the pulpit and you wouldn't believe how many Elders gasped with happiness at the idea that she had perhaps gotten baptised, but twas not so.) They gave us this beautiful thing called a Magnum ice cream bar and told us that we could watch the fireworks. So those of you in the Provo, Utah area. We were totes watching the same fireworks. I have never been more proud of my heritage than at that point in my life.

I have gotten to see Elder Garrett Hawkins, who got here last Wednesday, we share the same meal times and P-days and Gym time so I literally see him everywhere. And I have also been blessed on seeing Elder Taylor Graves every time the West campus MTC dwellers join us main campus dwellers. We enjoy giving each other high fives and see the other elder's and sister's reactions, little known fact, sisters and elders can't high five or fist bump. I know. Its sad. I've seen Micah a couple of times mostly though its out the window and I see him accidently trip over his feet as he walks to his car. For some reason he has yet to smuggle me in some pizza, I think he should work on that ;D

French sayings of the week. #lalutteestvrai (hashtage the struggle is real), "tous le temps chaque jours" (all day every day) and "comment osez-vous" (how dare you). The language is going very well. I have been able to carry on conversations at a quick pace, as well have been able to get off book for lessons (meaning I don't read the script I've written before hand and just teach with the spirit.) Sister Hill, Sister Jeter and I have taught six lessons. Five of which were to our investigator Em, who turned out to be our second French teacher. We sort of knew it would happen, but at the same time it was very very strange to see Frere Laguan in a suit and tie speaking English occasionally. My teachers are great as I said Frere Laguan is one of them, he is the most sassy French speaker I believe I have ever met. He also has one of the best testimonies I have ever heard, or at least from the parts I could translate to English. The teachers here are suppose to speak French the entire time, so then we can have a full immersion experience. Considering we are in our class rooms 11 hours of the day, compared to our 9 hours in our residents halls, this seems to be working quite well. I believe the class room my cousin Brandon Slade was in is in fact in our Zone, we have Haitian Creole speaking missionaries as well as Tahitian missionaries on our floor (the poor Tahitian missionaries have to learn 5 weeks of French and then 6 weeks of Tahitian. a.k.a 11 weeks in the MTC.)

I have only been here two weeks, which is really rather strange to think of that but its true. Sister Hill, Sister Jeter and I have been given the assignment of Sister Training Leaders. Our sister training leaders just left yesterday to serve in Lyon France. And we are in the quiet before the storm. Tomorrow the two French zones receive 47 new French missionaries, next week 6 international missionaries come in who only speak French (which should make interviewing interesting...) But hey this will be fun!

Looks like that is all the time that I have for today, seriously people write me letters. I never thought I'd say this but goodness. Email is a hassle.

Until next week!

Souer Cummings

L'etoile de la ceil (The Ceiling Stars)

Guys its official. I'm a missionary. Come give me a handshake. Coming into the MTC was uneventful thank goodness, not including a rather treacherous sprint in a skirt in the O'hare airport that should have really been recognized for "most graceful run for your life while your plane has just landed and your connecting plane has two minutes left of boarding." On the plane I sat next to a guy from Ottawa which is in my mission! He filled me in on everything I needed to know about the area. AKA Hockey. Oh he also told me the fifty dollar bills in Canada actually smell like maple syrup. Which makes me really excited because that means that not only is Canadian money really bright like monopoly money but its like a scratch and sniff! CANADA IS AN AMUSEMENT PARK! At least in advertising ;D

Thank you all those family and friends who came to see me off, I love you guys! After I was dropped off at the curb and I had gotten my name tag, a Sister Smith (who is from, you guessed it, an hour outside Montreal) helped me take my gear up to my room. I was of course the first one into the apartment and as well as first into the classroom. Oh the classroom... I walked in and my teacher was speaking French...someone once decribed the first day, maybe even the first week, as trying to drink out of a firehose. You try to get as much water as you can into your mouth, but only end up hurting your face really badly. This is very very accurate, the teachers here are supposed to be speaking French 24/7 which is good because I am picking up the language quite well, or more likely remembering it well. It is only the sixth day and I have already taught three lessons in French, can say a prayer in French and have learned many useful phrases such as "Je peux pas meme" (I just can't even) "Je conduis la bus de la lutte" (I drive the struggle bus) and a particularly interesting Quebecois phrase "Bien oui en dont" pronounced as "ben way un dawn" which means You have got to be kidding me. THAT'S CRAZY! And yet at the same time I feel like I have been prepared for this moment my entire life.

I am in a Trio with Sister Hill and Sister Jeter. Sister Hill is from Las Vegas and has the most beautiful long hair you can think of, and she is so talented she can do fancy braids with it, without a mirror. Elle est un boss. Sister Jeter is from Texas although she doesn't sound like it, she also has this insane ability to just throw anything at the garbage can and it will go in. Which is ironic because her last name in French means "to throw away in the trash." Elle est un boss aussi. Our first night we were all so tired and our brains were in a condition that we have become to understand as "French Fried." We all got ready for bed, read our scriptures, wrote in our journals and then turned off the lights. It was only then that we saw the most beautiful thing we have seen yet. Some Sisters before us had put dozens and dozens of glow in the dark stars on the ceiling of our room. This is a little known fact but at the MTC you don't get to see the night sky. The buildings are too close together with covered walkways that blot out the sky, missionaries are also not allowed to be outside before it gets really dark. But every night since the first all three of us walk into the room do our nightly routine, and then turn off the lights and sigh. Sleeping under the stars has become a way to de-stress, a way to unwind, and a way to recognize just how close we are to God. He has left little miracles like this that have kept me up and running. Miracles such as seeing a friend everyday, we don't talk much but just being able to see them calms me down so that I can focus during the eleven hours of studying and classes I have daily.

Currently it feels like I am too busy to even worry about being homesick. I miss you guys don't worry. But as my cousin put it "I hope I miss you." There are moments when it hits me, moments of "Oh my goodness I am a missionary" or "Oh my goodness I only get to wear pants one day a week" or even "Oh my goodness I can't high five guys for an entire 18 months." Strangely enough those moments are when I feel most homesick. This is only remedied by receiving letters and even just sleeping under the stars. I love it here and I can't wait until I am out in the field. But for now I'm content with sleeping under the stars for five more weeks.

Sincerely,

Sister Cummings

New Mission President

Dear Friends and Family:

Well, this week we had a really great week. We achieved standards in almost every key indicator, which is something that I am very happy to report. We will continue to grow and to work hard, of course, and I can't wait to achieve standards in every key indicator.

One of the biggest blessings that God has given us this week was that Dylan Edrington was finally baptized! He has been wanting to be baptized for almost a month, and he finally was able to do it! Hooray!

One of the miracles we saw this week was that a guy named Matt Ellsworth referred himself to us on Mormon.org. He has been in and out of church for several years, and although he knows it is true, for some reason he has never been baptized before. So he already knows just about everything that we need to teach him, and he's very solidly preparing to be baptized this Sunday (the 6th)!

Something that I learned over the last 7-10 days is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ really does change people's hearts. One of our investigators was on the fence when we started to teach her, and over this time she has progressively become more solid and more willing to act with each visit. Her name is Daphne, and she is preparing to be baptized this Sunday as well.

We have a new mission president. President Anderson flew home on Friday; we'll be meeting President Richardson face to face tomorrow. These are the questions that I asked him, and I'm hoping he'll respond to:

- How long have you and Sister Richardson been married?

- How big is your family?

- Where have you lived?

- And who is your favorite Disney villain?

I'd also love it if all of you (friends and family) would respond to that last question, as I only know a few of them by name and I have no way of looking them up. Thanks!

Thanks,

Elder Slade

The field is white, all ready to harvest.

Dear family,

Sister Bartsch and I had an amazingly blessed week, and just like Elder Slade we were able to meet mission standards together! We have some outstanding plans for this coming week so we're planning on making standards a weekly ordeal.

After losing so many investigators last week, this week we found many more, and some even returned! Turns out, Hayley has been thinking about moving in with her dad here in Everett for a while. She loves Silverlake ward and wants to be baptized here, so she took our pass-off explanation as almost like an answer to prayers that she is supposed to move back with her dad and step-mom. Funny story- When we saw her a few days ago we asked if she still had her baptismal calendar so that we could go over it with her and make the changes necessary for her new baptismal date. She told us that that wouldn't be possible, and she pulled out of her purse a beautifully laminated baptismal calendar. She told us that she laminated it a few weeks ago when we first gave it to her so that she could always keep it with her to help her "stay focused." :)

Our investigator Lily is preparing for baptism on July 19th. She used to meet with missionaries but the timing was never quite right because she would get through a few discussions then have to leave to go back to school in Switzerland. Her dad died last year, and she is searching for peace in her life. She said she feels really warm whenever we come teach her and pray with her, but then the feeling leaves, and it isn't as strong when she reads and prays. She wants to know how she can have that feeling all the time. It was cool to teach her about the Gift of the Holy Ghost! We brought a member we had never brought before to our lesson on thursday, and when Lily opened the door both of them just stared at each other then started to yell about how good it was to see each other. Sister Bartsch and I had no idea what was going on! Apparently Lily and Katherine were best friends in unicycling club back in middle school! Heavenly Father is so funny.

We were able to start meeting with Logan this week! Last week he flaked last minute on a few lessons, so we stopped by his apartment and he said he is at a very difficult time in his life going through the divorce and everything, and he wasn't sure he could handle anything more. We both felt like we should be bold, so we made him (Oops, I mean, invited him) meet with us at least once. He has loved it!!! He even thanked us in the last lesson for being persistent, since he really feels like the gospel has been helping him through his trials.

I had a really special experience yesterday. We have been working with a less-active girl named Hannah. Despite some opposition from her mom, she has been so strong in coming back to church and completely making changes in her life because she knows that this is what is right. Yesterday after church she started to cry and told me that she knows that this is the right time and place in her life to embrace the gospel once and for all. She said that she needed us, and is so grateful for everything we have done for her. We just hugged and cried and reassured each other that we're allowed to be emotional since we're women. :) There is no work more rewarding than missionary work!

We have our mini-MTC tonight. Don't forget that it's the missionaries responsibility to teach, but it's the members responsibility to find! I would love to hear about all of the missionary experiences that you are all having! Remember, success is not a yes or a baptism. You succeed when you invite!

Love, Sister Slade

 Hayley with laminated baptism calendar. :)

We took the front off of a mustang for service.

Temple Trip!

Dear Friends and Family:

Hooray for a new brother! I love you, Nathan!

This week, on Friday, we were able to go to the temple for the first time since the MTC. I've included a picture of my zone and another zone, with President and Sister Anderson in the middle. This is President and Sister Anderson's last week in the mission; President and Sister Richardson are coming in later this week, and we'll see them for the first time next Tuesday. It was a really great experience in the temple, and I felt like my perspective on life and the meaning of the gospel changed significantly.

Elder Bailey and I are getting along pretty well. We both enjoy completely different things for the most part, but we both like to read. In missionary work, the biggest struggle we've found so far is finding a lot of people who want to hear our message, or who want a scripture read to them occasionally, but who don't want to do anything or to commit to being baptized. We've resolved to be more in line with our purpose when we teach, so that it is very clear to people what we expect from them. If they are willing to act, then we will work with them; and if not, then we can spend our time looking for other people to teach.

We have had such a good week in terms of numbers. We've found a large number of new investigators, and we've had a lot of lessons. We did not, however, get many people to come to church.

So for this next week, Dylan is finally going to be baptized. He's had some problems these last two weeks, because of opposition by members of the family and also because of the recent death of his great-grandpa (who happened to be a Mormon, who would have guessed). But he is still solid and is preparing for this weekend.

I'm sorry I haven't been writing as much as I should have been. I'll send off some letters today.

Thanks,

Elder Slade

Busy week

Dear family, I'm out of time this week, so I've just copied and pasted my letter to President again. The biggest news from this week is that we had a super powerful lesson with Hayley this week where she told us that she has received an answer to her prayers, and she knows that it's all true! She loved church and loves reading the Book of Mormon and is so excited to be baptized! Unfortunately, we also found out that she lives in Bothell and has simply been commuting to Everett for work and to see friends. It looks like some Seattle missionaries are going to get a an absolutely golden referral, and the Sammammish Valley YSA ward will be blessed to have Hayley.

I love you all!

Dear President Bonham,

Happy Anniversary! Since you're both soooo old and have gained so much wisdom together, you can tell me, is Jesus Christ truly the secret to a happy marriage and family?

The Lord has been using us as finding tools recently, and all in one week we've had to pass-off most of our investigators to surrounding areas. It's a good thing the church is just as true in Bothell and Lynnwood and Lake Stevens as it is here! We are looking forward to finding prepared people in Everett this week though :)

Sister Bartsch and I are very excited for the Mini-MTC we are organizing for our ward. We taught the lesson in relief society yesterday and the ward is definitely getting excited about missionary work. In the words of Sister Bartsch, "I was about to pull a King Lamoni and pass out the spirit was so strong!"

I have been studying the meaning of the atonement this week. A few days ago we went to talk to a group of YSA talking on the side of the road, and one of them asked me, "Well why was it necessary? If God is all-powerful, why did it have to happen?" It was so cool to be able to share scriptures from the Book of Mormon with him and have a good long discussion about everything that I had just finished studying! What I loved the most though was being able to share my testimony, that I really do know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and even though I still don't understand fully the reasons of why it had to happen, the spirit has witnessed to me through prayer and through actually using His sacrifice in my life, that the atonement is so real! I hope the guys we talked to will accept our invitation to simply try, and to experience the reality of the atonement for themselves.

Lots of tender mercies and lots of feelings of love every day.

We are expecting miracles in the coming week.

Love, Sister Slade