June 13

Jun 13th
Time flew by so fast this week.  Someone told me that it really does flow by once you are a leader, and it is so true! We are always so busy either doing exchanges or talking with the district leaders in ways we can help or whatever it may be.  

This week, we had two different exchanges.  One with the Annaville sisters and one with sisters that live in Beeville (they live about an hour or so away).  It was pretty scary not really knowing how to get to our halfway meeting spot, but I think now I can manage my way around Cinton, Corpus, McAllen, a little of Mission, and Harlingen.  All I need is Brownsville and Laredo! Crazy! It's really fun driving on the 75 mph freeways too!  Anyway, the first exchange I was on was with Sister Peyro in my old area of Annaville!  She has really curly hair and she is from California too! A fun thing we did together was make up stories to describe a place. For example, I had Kauai, so I said, "I first started my journey in KANSAS and brought ONE pineapple and FIVE bananas.  Then after walking a little, we found ONE arangatang that stole THREE of the bananas."  Stuff like that.  The vowels are numbered 1-5 and the consonants are just starting with the letter.   Then, on Saturday, I was with Sister Tupou from California too! She is Tongan, and it was so funny because every person that we talked with she said, "I love you!" No matter what.  It was pretty embarrassing, but pretty funny too :).  

Also, this week, we had a big zone conference.  It was the last time that we are going to see President Maluenda, so that is pretty sad, but at least we got to hug him again! :) We were there at the church for a long time though! The meeting lasted from 8:30 in the morning to 5 PM.  It was pretty cool to hear President and Sister Maluenda's dying testimony.  The biggest thing I learned though was that so many things on the mission do prepare you for the rest of your life.  For example, before the mission, I thought I was always busy, but now I am learning to be more efficient.  Like for example, now I can wash a car in 10-15 minutes and shower in less than 5 minutes.  Something else that I really liked about the week was that Sister Stanfill and I just worked so hard! We had so many appointments set and so many service opportunities or whatever it may be.  We only got one dinner appointment, but that couldn't get us down! I think for the first time this week I couldn't finish all that they offered me.  One thing that they gave us was like a sugar free chocolate and avocado moose thing.  So nasty! Haha.  All the missionaries were there too, and we all were trying to pass it off to the next one.  I don't think they noticed though, which is good.

A couple miracles this week that happened were that we were finally able to have a lesson with a recent convert family.  We have had a really hard time contacting them, but turns out that they are just feeling sick.  Also, whenever their niece comes over she goes to church, so we are trying to get her baptized but it is a little hard right now to get her mom's permission.  Hopefully she will have a change of heart.  Also, another miracle is that we keep seeing these returned missionaries that have a job of going door to door selling pest control.  They always give us super good referrals! It's awesome! :)

Oh! I almost forgot! Last P-day I got to play a real tennis match with a pretty good high school player.  It was so fun! I still got it too and won 3-0 :)

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week.  Love you!

Sister Findlay

 I was so shocked to find a big, fancy house like that here in Texas, but I am in a pretty rich area of the mission, so that was a cool find. 

Week of miracles and rain

Dear friends and family,

I feel like I am loving the mission more and more as I learn more and more just how to forget myself and help others.  This week was a crazy busy week.  On Wednesday, we only had a little bit of time to work since we had to grocery shop and email, but at least we found a really cool girl at the grocery store here.  She said she had recognized Sister Stanfill and I from before when were here, but after that we got to help paint someone's house, and then help set up for the Young Women fundraiser.

Then, on Thursday, we had a meeting for all the sister training leaders and zone leaders on the mission (about 26) and President Maluenda stressed the importance of studying the scriptures (from all of the standard works, not just the Book of Mormon).  I already have started reading from the New Testament and have learned so much! I especially like in Matthew chapter 3 that when Jesus Christ got baptized, it really took a lot of humility since He was already perfect.  Then, I thought of how important it is to be humble to obey because if you think about it, God knows more than we ever will know.  God gives us commandments for a reason even if we can't see them or understand them right away.  

Also, at the meeting, President Maluenda paid for all of us to go to a Chinese buffet.  Those are all over South Texas! I ate at a Chinese buffet twice last week actually! It was pretty good, but I got embarrassed because I spilled something all over my white shirt, AND President was there! Hopefully it comes out in the wash haha.  After the meeting was over, President had a meeting with just the sisters and told us how important it was to look pretty haha.  It is interesting because I thought I would never get into the habit of wearing make up every day, especially on the misison.

Anyway, Friday, we helped out at the fundraiser again, and Sister Stanfill and I got to see all the members we loved.  I even got to limbo during it! That was really fun.  

Then, when Saturday, came around, Sister Stanfill were really worried that the "key indicators" would be bad for the week, since we were serving the members a lot during the week, but with a little planning, it all works out.  We got to do splits with some sisters in the ward and that helped a lot.  Then, at the end of the night, a huge miracle happened.  This was when we were at 0 new investigators for the day, and we were walking down the street and saw this group of 5 high school aged girls.  After saying "hi," they even gave us a bouquet that they had picked while walking around the neighborhood.  It was really strange seeing them outside too because almost nobody hangs out outside here. It's crazy.  Anyway, after talking to them a little more, they asked us some questions about God's plan for them and others, and all were interested in having another lesson! Some of the girls said they would come to church the next day, but they didnt come :( we were pretty sad, but hopefully they do next Sunday when we teach them more.  Hopefully their families will be interested too!

Sunday was great because it felt like I was back in my family ward! Everyone is so unbelievably welcoming and I even got to translate for one of the recent converts (my favorite member).

I am so glad to be back up here too because it rained pretty much every day and down in Harlingen it is just scorching hot ALL the time.

Anyway, love you all! Have a great week :)

Love,

Sister Findlay

"Pack your bags!"

Dear Friends and Family,

You will never guess what happened yesterday.  So, on Monday, we all got together on P-day and our zone leaders announced where we would be going and all of that, so when they announced that my "daughter" (trainee) on the mission was going to stay in her area, we thought for sure that I would stay with her.  However, after they announced my name, they said, "Pack your bags!" and then they said, "You're going to a special meeting."  I thought at first that I would train someone else, but then talking to some elders that usually if you already have trained, you don't go to the meeting again for the same thing.  When they announced that, next thing I knew was Sister Schaffner was balling her eyes out.  Even though I'm not much of a crier, it was a sweet experience to see how much she was going to miss me. A trainer and a trainee relationship is really like a mother daughter relationship.

The next day, on Tuesday, I left early in the morning to drive to McAllen for the meeting.  We ended up having to follow the elders going to McAllen too, so there were three missionary cars following each other.  I didn't have a GPS or anything and the sister that was in the car with me didn't know any of the elder's phone numbers, so after zooming in and out of cars, we were able to catch up to the elders and arrive safely at the chapel.  Good thing they were going fast though, because we made it just in time.  During the meeting, I first found out that I was going to be a Sister Training Leader, but after than, I found out that my really good friend from the Mexico MTC was going to be my companion.  So, now, Sister Stanfill and I get to be companions and we are "white-washing" (new area with new companion) yet again.  Every time I see her, it feels like I am dreaming.  We're both so young on the mission! This morning, I was really happy on our run.  We actually keep the same pace :) It is awesome.  Also, we have a goal to run a half-marathon together after the mission.  Sister Stanfill is from Temecula, and she actually got to volunteer in the San Diego temple before her mission too.  She has 8 siblings and she is number 5.  She is the BEST! We really don't know what we are doing half the time, but we will learn.  Luckily, we have another training meeting tomorrow.  Oh! I forgot to tell you the best part.  I came back up to Corpus Christi and I am in the same ward as I was two transfers ago. Sister Stanfill was here right before me. We just have a different area this time.  This means we have the same splendid members that feed us. 

Last night, we went to the Bower's house (awesome middle-aged couple) and they couldn't believe their eyes to see us again.  We were super excited too.  I love this area, and I am so glad to be back.  It also means that we live with a member again, which means no more laundromats :) (at least for a little bit).  

The mission is making me stretch so much! Hopefully I can be a good leader by being humble and relying on the Lord.  I know He knows what's up haha.

I'm really glad that we got to play soccer before I left together as a district because we all got super close.  When there is unity in the district, everything works out :)

On Sunday, we got to teach gospel doctrine with a 5 minute warning, but it turned out to be a pretty good lesson on baptismal covenants.  I shared a sweet experience of how the gift of the Holy Ghost protected me when I needed it.  It was when I was hiking up a hill at night with a flashlight, but then my friend thought that he needed to shine the flashlight on my path, and right then, I was able to see the rattle snake that I was about to step on.  

Love you! Have an awesome week.

Con amor,

Hermana Findlay

"Blessings"

Hello,  

One awesome thing that happened this week was that we all got blessings from President Maluenda.  He is going to leave in about two months, and it is an awesome privilege to get a blessing from him.  I know that the words he said could have only come from my Heavenly Father, as well as all the other blessings I have received.  His blessing was a lot like my patriarchal blessing, and I felt so much love from Heavenly Father during it.  Also, after President was done, we gave all the sisters a hug as well as the elders.  He said he usually does it when the sisters go home, but that "this time it is an exception."

After the interviews, the whole Harlingen zone got together for a pizza party from a place called the Pizzeria.  It was sooo good! We got pizza because the senior couple, the Tracy's, were really impressed with the cleanliness of our apartments :)

This picture is of Sister Sanchez and me, and a lady named Socorro.  It was a referral, so we expected to just do the normal thing--introduce ourselves, share a letter message, and see if she was interested or needed any help.  Instead, she invited us in, we were able to share a message, and she even invited us to eat dinner with her and her husband.  They weren't too interested, but they were so nice to us! It was really a miracle because I was getting really hungry, and I thought I would be having yet another granola bar for dinner.  Also, that is her parrot in the other picture as well.

This picture is one with the Sister Schaffner and I with the afro tree is great.  We got to go down to Brownsville for FHE for the branch, and Elder Clark (a senior missionary) was in charge of it.  While we were waiting for everyone to show up, he took a picture of us attempting to have afros. 

This one is of my district taking a picture with face masks is really great because we all took the challenge from our district leader to buy the strangest thing under $5.  One of the Elders bought those face masks, and we ended up buying fake snowballs.  We had a lot of fun with those too--throwing them at each other after district meeting.  

 

On Saturday, this week, a cop pulled me over.  It was the first time ever that I was pulled over.  Apparently I was going 40 in a 30 mph zone.  Good thing it was just a warning! It was so ironic that the first time I have been pulled over is on the mission!

Love you! Have a great week :)

Another good week.

Well today is yet again another p-day. Good thing I wrote everything that happened in my jourAnothnal this week and took lots of pictures because without that, I wouldn't know what to write! 

This week on Tuesday, we found another tarantula yet again. I think that is 3 times now.  This time, however, we caught it and put it in a container.  That night, we put the tarantula on Sister Holloway's (one of the girls that lives with us) bed.  You have to understand though, she is deathly afraid of spiders, so when she saw it on her bed, she screamed, ran away, and started to cry.  We had some help of our friends in the YSA to catch it, and it was the talk of the branch this week haha.

On Wednesday, we got to go to lunch with Victor (a member in the branch) he actually cooked pretty well! He made rice and a meat stir-fry thing.  A lot of the members actually feed us, but we still go out with them too.  It's pretty cool that they are always willing to feed us and come to lessons with us.

On Friday, we went to a recent converts house named Ana for lunch.  Hopefully she will want to go to YSA (young single adult) soon! There aren't very many girls at all in the branch.

On Saturday, our zone service project was to clean missionary apartments.  However, since there is only one sister apartment, we basically just cleaned our own.  It was so great doing a very good deep cleaning since we usually don't have a lot of time. 

 I was freaking out because we knocked on a referral that we had and the first thing they said was there is a tornado warning, so we need to go inside!! I was freaking out, but then The two members that were with us calmed us down and said they rarely happen and it wasn't even windy, but it still was some crazy weather--there was a lightning and thunder storm.  We decided that we better not bike like what we were planning to do haha.  

Oh my goodness, then, Sunday came, and someone came to church!!!! Her name is Nadene!!! She is awesome and accepted to try out our church without even knowing who the member was that was picking her up and not knowing who would take her back either.  You could tell she was a little uncomfortable in church, but everyone was just so friendly and came up to her and introduced themselves.  That's why the YSA branch is so cool.  I feel like I just hang out with my friends when they come out with us. 

I hope you all have a great week!

Helped with the set up of "Mormon Prom"

"The Power of Everyday Missionaries,"

This week was awesome just like any other week on the mission.  I think what makes the mission really fun for me is to see change in myself.  We make goals every week, and I think through making those and sticking to them, we can reach so much of our potential.

First, I am going to talk about Tuesday.  On Tuesday it was another one of our bike days (we are required to take at least two every week) and Sister Schaffner and I still don't know the area that well, so we biked for around 50 minutes just to get to an appointment with a 30-year-old lady named Yvonne, but turns out when we got there she wasn't there.  It was her second appointment with her, and she seemed really solid on the first lesson.  Anyway, after her dad said she wasn't home (nobody moves out of the house in Texas), we had to find some place to wash my hands because my bike chain fell off right before getting there.  We decided to walk to the library, and we found Yvonne sitting there at the library! We were able to explain how devastating it is when someone tells us one thing (like going to church and being there for the next appointment).  She continued to not have any interest, but then I was thinking that missionary work is just like starting relationships and having a bunch of break ups. It really is!

Anyway, on Wednesday, we had exchanges with the sister training leaders!  It is pretty hard to leave your companion even if it is just for a day, but I learned lots at the exchange, and one thing that I've started doing is getting more trust with the members.  Through their trust, they will be able to become member missionaries and bring their friends to church. In fact, I have been reading this book called "The Power of Everyday Missionaries," and one part that we want to share with every member is setting up a date to invite someone to talk to the missionaries.  M. Russell Ballard (an apostle) said if you set the date before the person, and talk about the gospel in as many situations as you can, you will find that person.

Then, on Friday, we had another exchange, and I was with Sister Holloway.  She is one of the sisters that lives with me. We found a pretty cool 18-year-old named Junior.  Do you know what that means?? He is YSA!! Woo hoo! We actually had an appointment with his sister, but turns out she had to go to jail.  Anyway, Junior had lots of questions for us, and he really confided in us.  I hope he will want to go to church this Sunday!  Then later, we had a lesson with a guy named Joe, and in quick lessons I like to show this little object lesson of burning a q-tip and having it burn on fire on one side and talking about that's what Satan can do to us.  Then, on the other side, I first dip the q-tip in hand sanitizer and the flame is only around the q-tip, but doesn't leave a mark.  Then I talk about as we go to church and read and pray, Satan doesn't control us.  Anyway, after sharing that, I had one of our members share his testimony, but instead of saying Steven, I said Satan when I referred to him.  Hahaha so funny!

On Saturday, we got to go play soccer, so we woke up at 5:45 AM and biked over to the soccer field.  I love playing soccer so much! During the game, someone crossed me the ball from a corner kick, then I kneed it up in the air, then I headered the ball into the goal.  It was awesome!   Then after studies, we got to wear jeans from around 11-5!! We first had a zone activity on the same farm that I was talking about last week, then we went to our branch president's house, and helped in his yard.  I love service projects so much, and an added bonus is we can wear jeans!!!

Then, yesterday, we went over to a huge ranch (a member's house) with 40 acres, and we ate the best dinner ever with smoked all-natural and organic chicken, swiss chard, corn tortillas, pork chops, and really good mashed potatoes.  It is so rare to get healthy food like that here in Texas! I was very happy :).  Also, I got to skype/talk on the phone to my family (because it was Mother's Day).  My Dad, however, decided to text me on my mission phone before I called.  He got it through my lds account, and I couldn't believe it.  I definitely didn't reply to that text because my mission phone is only supposed to be for mission purposes.  We had a pretty good laugh about it when I used the member's phone to call them a couple minutes later.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week :)

Enjoyed dinner with this family

Tarantula!

Hey everyone!! 

How are you doing? I would love it if you sent me an email or letter! My email isrfindlay@myldsmail.net.  This transfer I have grown so much.  Being a leader or trainer takes a lot of humility and help from the Lord.  I think the biggest struggle for me right now is being in a YSA (Young Single Adult) branch because we can only teach those people and we have to pass all the rest over to the other missionaries.

This week one of the cool things I found was a tarantula! It was huge!! I thought it was fake because it looked like one of those ones for halloween decorations.  

Also, a fun thing we did as a district was we played soccer together!! It was sooo fun! 

K, now on the more spiritual side of things, we got to teach this girl named Yvonne this week.  It was really cool because we were able to relate everything she was going through to the gospel.  It's amazing how we can teach so individually as missionaries.  We were able to testify that she can live with her family forever, but she has to keep doing those things like reading and praying and going to church.  We like to call it CPR.

Love you!

P.S. Oh, about all those other pictures, that was at a service project.  They had a 700 pound pig, donkeys, chickens, a turkey, goats, you name it.  It was pretty awesome.