A Bunny and a Puppy

Familia y Amigos!

How are you all doing?! I hope life is good and you're all staying safe.

I feel like as we get busy and do things, we have more funny experiences. Or maybe I just notice them more. This week was very eventful and a few things happened that I will never forget.

The first is the sleep talking that has happened. Hermana Barnes and I share a bunkbed and I sleep on the bottom. So every once in awhile, I half-wake up in the night to her sleep talking. She legit sleep talks. Full on sentences and conversations. Sometimes in Spanish. It is suuuuper entertaining. This week, apparently, I started sleep talking as well. I have always kiiinda sleep talked, mostly mumbles or words here and there, but not really sentences or anything too inteligable. But this week, as I'm told by Hna. Turner, Hna Barnes and I had a sleep conversation. I don't know what we really talked about, but we went back and forth and she responded to my talking. HA! So funny.

Another thing that happened was at a Melba scout auction. For those who aren't familiar, it's a ward activity fundraiser for boy scouts where they make cakes and other things and they auction it off to fund their campouts and other things. Usually people are really generous because it's just going to their boys in their ward. Awesome, huh? Anyways, so it was really fun being there and we went because some of our investigators were asked to make the food--to make genuine, delicious tacos. We saw them and talked to them and then stayed for part of the auction. They started with the cakes. We were sitting with Brother Zeyer, the ward mission leader in Melba. We were joking around about this one cake that was shaped like a rabbit. Then he bought it! AND he gave it to us. HA! Then later on in the auction, they has this basket full of puppy stuff--dog food and a bowl and toys, etc.--that they started telling everyone about and then out of nowhere, one of the littlest boys walks in carrying a golden retreiver puppy about the size of him! THEY WERE AUCTIONING A PUPPY! After the initial excitement died down, they started actually selling it. Everyone's attention was on this, but no one was ready to have a puppy. Then, the auctioneer started pointing to people, "You want it? You want it? Will you take him home?" sort of thing. He pointed out Brother Zeyer and he actually agreed! He got a beautiful puppy and all this stuff for $90!! All the little kids gathered around, of course. We couldn't believe he had just done that. We asked him about it and what he was going to do with it and he said he would give it to the Melba elders (they live with the Zeyers). HA! So he bought animals for both of us missionary sets: a bunny for us and a puppy for the elders!! Kinda ironic. The elders left partway through and we couldn't see their reaction. We'll have to see what they think next time we see them!

Then another funny thing that happened was with our little Joanna. We were contacting referrals in her neighborhood, so we decided to stop by and say hi. We went in and she was eating a chunk of cheese that looked like a slice of cheddar. She offered us some, so we said sure. Then she pulls out this huge block of American cheese slices and rips off a very significant chunk of the slices and gives them to us. Alriiight. What were we going to do? I would not be able to eat that much American cheese. So I start nibbling on it as we're talking and I'm just waiting til we're done so I can get rid of the extra. Then Hna Barnes asks me to hold the rest of hers as she shares a scripture. She gave me this look of "HA!" as she gave it to me. Then we finished up and I got the brilliant idea to just slip it in the trash as Joanna was giving the others goodbye hugs. And of course right as everything gets quiet, it hits the garbage sack. Joanna hears it and asks, "What did you do with her cheese?" I'm pretty sure I said something about accidentally dropping it in the trash but was suuuuper embarrassed and felt rude. Joanna offered Hna. B more cheese, but she just said, "Oh, no. You already put it away..." Sooo yeah. We got out of there pretty fast and had to keep ourselves composed as we walked down the street to our car. Then we burst out laughing. Ridiculous.

Last Tuesday, we had zone conference. It was all day and surprisingly really good. We read a talk by Elder Holland about the Atonement. He gave it at the MTC. It was SOO good. He talked about how the Atonement is so sacred and so necessary. And just about how amazing it is. It was really powerful. I can't even do it justice. Maybe next week I'll bring it with me and send some quotes from it. But truly, the Atonement and Jesus Christ's sacrifice is what this gospel is all about. It's why I'm here. Because I know that it's the only way we can feel clean and real joy. I know how it's changed my life and I want to share my love for Jesus Christ with others. A few scriptures I found as well are:

2 Nephi 22:2

Alma 26:12

Moroni 10:32

Truly, we can get physical strength through Him. I know this and have felt this in my life.

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

 

PS No pictures this week because my camera couldn't connect with the computer I used.

"Y" vs. "And" (Week 9 in Kuna?!)

Familia y Amigos!!

It's hard to believe I've been here so long, but it still seems like I just got here. The reason for my subject is one of the times I laugh-cried this week was because of this little Spanish word: Y. It means "and" in Spanish and when talking in English, it is an infamous word for Spanish missionaries. Being here in Idaho, we talk a lot of English, whether we want to or not. So we have to make sure to turn off the Spanish thinking and words. Sometimes that doesn't completely happen. One specific time was when we were at a less active member's house and we had talked and shared a scripture and were about to leave. We were closing with a prayer and Hermana Barnes was saying it. She was saying it in English when she says "y" and then paused for just a split second when she realized what she had said. That split second was JUST enough time for us to let out a giggle/chuckle/breath of air and it just went downhill from there. She was trying really hard to compose herself to finish the prayer and to contain the laughter until after. Then it was released. We all had a pretty good laugh from that. Of course I was crying with laughter. But I love those moments.

Another thing that I wanted to tell you all about is one of the Ward Mission Leaders in Melba. He is legit. This last week, we got to Melba (it's about half an hour away, so we try to carpool with a member) and he had a little map with red dots on it. The dots were houses we should stop by. We were amazed that he had found all these Spanish-speaking houses and asked him his secret. He told us how he had actually gone around to houses that looked like they might be Hispanic and actually knocked on the door. When the person answered, he would just ask if a random thing in their front yard was for sale. It wasn't threatening for them, and he found out if they spoke Spanish. PERFECT! It saved a lot of time and was really funny.

Also, I wanted to tell you about one of our little investigators here. She is the sweetest 72-year old lady and is super spunky. Her name is Joanna. She actually speaks English, but because she is married to a Spaniard, we were told to visit them and that's how we originally met them. When we first walked in to their home, they were both smoking and Eduardo was drinking up a storm. I was a bit hesitant, but still talked to them. Who knew where it would go! That was just a few weeks ago, but we've gone back and helped them paint their ceiling as a service project and we've been able to just visit them and get to know them. Nowadays, we go back mostly to visit Joanna because Eduardo is always drunk. I love this lady. She is one of the kindest, most open and loving people. And her smile and love just makes me happy. On one of my hardest days, we had an appointment with her and she just made me feel so much better. She has an amazing spirit and you can tell that she cares. So this last week, we had an appointment with her and we actually taught her the first lesson. And I invited her to be baptized when she finds out for herself that it's true. She straightup said no. The reason was because she felt like she couldn't change. She had been smoking her whole life and it was a part of her. And she didn't want to be a hypocrite Mormon who smoked and did bad things while pretending to be someone else. That's amazing. Even though she agrees with what we teach and can feel the Spirit, she knows that she wants to be honest to decisions she makes. She really is close to the spirit even though she doesn't recognize it. And I can't wait for the gospel to help her through her health problems and other things she's going through. We're going to visit her this week and talk to her about hope and change. She is going to need a lot of prayers and faith, but she can do it. She already knows her habits are bad, she just needs a reason to quit.

This made me think a lot about change and how it's hard, but it brings joy. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings about change for the better. And when we're striving to be better while staying strong to what we know is true, we can feel fulfilled while having motivation to keep going. And that perspective brings joy. That is why people need the gospel. When we understand this, it's crazy how it can help us through the hard times and give us purpose in everything. Super cool.

I'm loving it here and hope you are all doing well.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Shirley

1) Another sunset. :)

2) When we had our bonfire, we were wearing the randomest clothes to stay warm.

A legit crazy week. No other words. (week 8 in Kuna)

Familia y amigos.

I may have been saying that past weeks were crazy, but this one tops it off. It was really different and tough getting used to a new companion, but then one day, she opened up to me and told me what was going on. To sum it up, Hermana Morales was having a really hard time, struggled a bit with depression, and received revelation that she was supposed to go home. So we talked a ton with President Cannon and prayed and fasted a bunch. AND, we went on emergency exchanges a few times with the Sister Training Leader. This all happened early and in the middle of the week and then by Friday, we got the call that she would go home Saturday morning. So Friday was crazy getting all packed and moving and saying goodbyes to people while still doing missionary work. I can't believe I just summed up all that we did that day in one sentence! HA! It was wild.

So now I'm in a trio with the other Kuna Hermanas Barnes and Turner. The areas are (temporarily?) combined again and we have 18 wards that we cover. BUT, we are a TON more organized now and really on top of things. We actually had a super good planning session on Thursday where we planned the month and the week and the day. We really organized everything and wrote out all of our investigators and what they need and how we can help. We have about 15 households, and that's not including the kids and families and everything. We have a lot on our plates. And people are always giving us more referrals, which is super great. So we are nice and busy. But back to our planning session, it was a REALLY cool experience. We did lots of prayers for specific things and pondered a lot about what each person needed and what our goals SHOULD be. What Heavenly Father wanted. During that time, we had one family text us and "drop" us, which was hard, but we also saw a bunch of blessings. Like when we would only have a few hours open to set up appointments and those times were exactly perfect for the people. Or someone would be super willing and open to help us in exactly the way we needed. AND, we were setting up our goals and thinking of specific numbers that we wanted to make our goal and we'd each ponder for awhile and then when we told each other what we were thinking, it was the exact same number. WHAAAAT?! Coincidence? I think not. So even though it was a really tough week in ways, we PHYSICALLY saw so many blessings. We almost wanted to cry with how cool it was. Another thing that we're doing is fasting more this month to have success and to truly change lives. I can't believe we hadn't thought of this before. We are going to fast each Thursday if you want to pray for us or fast with us. Prayer and fasting is powerful and we're exercising our faith that we will be blessed with baptisms this month. If you want someone to pray for, please pray for the Garcia family (specifically Imelda and Antonio) and Angel Bravo.

That's something that I've really learned this week. Prayer works. Prayer changes everything. We can't do work and be missionaries without it. If we expect Heavenly Father to answer us, we have to do our part and establish that line of communication. He is our Father in Heaven and we have the ability to have a REAL relationship with Him. And we have to develop and nurture that relationship just like how we do any other relationship. It's one of my favorite things to just have someone who I can tell everything to. And He knows exactly where we're at and what we need. It's so cool!

I love my Heavenly Father and this gospel so much. It is true.

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

Pictures:

1) Hermana Morales.

2) During our planning, we realized we had 5 different preach my gospels out. That's what happens when we're dual language. HAHA!

3) A car we drove behind. MISUENO. My dream. HA!

Being with Hermanas Barnes and Turner is really fun. And we're taking more pictures. :)

1) Hermanas Turner and Barnes

2) THE SUNSETS ARE SO BEAUTIFUL!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Shirley

Holy Cow! (Week 7 in Kuna)

Familia y Amigos!

This has been a very interesting week! (Maybe I say that every week... But really. Seriously crazy.) First transfers, with an area I've only been in for 6 weeks, with a language I don't know very well, and being the one who knows the most about the splitting area. It was a lot of pressure! And, honestly, I was really scared. It was a hard first few days of the week. But then we started getting to work, and we organized things, took a step back and took a deep breath. I'm starting to look for the fun in this work. And it's worked out. We have another companionship of sisters in Kuna now and when we work together, we have a lot of fun. A few things of fun that have happened are:

Our branch had another bonfire. We invited tons of people and worked a ton beforehand to get people there, then got the chance to just relax and have fun while there. It was good for the other Hermanas to meet everyone in a fun setting. We had a good turnout and a few people we weren't expecting. So that was good. As we have more monthly bonfires, and as the weather gets warmer, more people will come and it'll be a really good thing. I told myself beforehand that I'd be more outward and talk to more people. I talked to mostly everyone who came and had fun even though my Spanish is limited.

Also this week, we asked a cute Mexican investigator named Alma to teach us how to cook something. She chose Pasole. It's a Mexican soup. We asked her what we could bring, and she asked us to bring the meat. The carne. Hermana Barnes went to a Mexican meat market and got a good amount of chicken and pork. And so we went and just talked with her while it cooked, then we helped chop things up and in any way we could. It was realllllly good. It wasn't too spicy and I gobbled it up. It makes me want to learn to cook more Mexican food. Tamales are next!!

Then the last crazy thing that happened was that we were just driving to a dinner appointment one day (all 4 of us Kuna Hermanas because they didn't have dinners set up yet) and as we turned a corner, there was one house that had a bunch of cows out roaming around in their front yard. Without a fence, with a few of them right along the side of the road. That was not normal... So we pulled off to the side of the road--the other side--and went to go tell the people that their cows had gotten out. As we were sitting there, we realized they were bulls... And the one sister who was wearing a red skirt was the one who volunteered to walk through them to the front door!! HA! We got out of the car to take pictures with them and they started running around. We BOLTED back to the car!! It was scary! But it was super funny and we had a good story to tell the family when we showed up late to dinner. 

But really, this week, I am so grateful for the people in my life and who the Lord puts around me. The 2nd set of Kuna sisters are Hermana Barnes and Turner. And they are awesome. And this week would have been so different without them. Already, the work they have done in the other stake is helping the branch to grow and it will be so good! And when I've had struggles, they've helped me out. It's definitely not an accident!

And the thing that I've learned a ton more about this week is revelation. It's a topic that is so intricate and different for every person. That's what makes it hard. But it's so necessary. Heavenly Father loves us and wants what's best for us and for us to be happy. When we sincerely seek Him and do what we can to get answers, He will help us. When it seems like we're not getting answers, it might mean that He just trusts us to make a decision. He wants us to act and be happy with our decision. The action shows Heavenly Father that we trust Him and are willing. But that ACTION is sooo hard sometimes. SOO hard. And when we hesitate because we don't want to do the wrong thing, we don't have to feel bad about that. It's hard and takes time. But we can do it. Action is what it's all about.

I love you all and hope you're doing awesome!!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

PS The picture speaks for itself.

Say what?!

Familia y Amigos!

So yeah. Transfers were this week. And, it's crazy to say this, but Hna. Dickson and I are being split up!! I'm staying in Kuna and she's going to Nyssa, ENGLISH SPEAKING!! Also, the one Spanish zone we had is being split!! ALSO, the Spanish work in Kuna is growing so much that they're splitting our area too!!!! There will now be 2 companionships of missionaries covering the area we were covering before. THIS IS HUGE, will be HUGE for Kuna and our little branch. It kinda blows my mind. New missionaries are usually trained for 2 transfers, 12 weeks, so as we visited people these past few weeks, we were talking about how we'll MOST LIKELY be around, but that transfers were coming up. I didn't expect to leave or be split from Hna. Dickson at all. But to be split from her, be the senior missionary for the Spanish missionary work in Kuna (a huge area), and not be able to see my trainer because she's in a different zone and area and everything. Phewwww. It's a lot. And I never would have guessed it would happen this fast!! It's kinda overwhelming, BUT, I know that it'll work out and it'll be what the branch needs.

Anyways, so my new companion is Hna. Morales. I've only met her once, really. She's Mexican, from Texas I think. That's what Hna. Dickson told me. It'll be really good for my Spanish. And I'll make sure we have fun while working hard. I'm a mixture of nervous and excited, which is pretty normal for a new companion.

About this week, it's been really good. Really cool. We taught 3 different seminary classes. We got a new car. Being Spanish-speaking means car privileges. Last p-day, we watched Ephraim's Rescue and found out we can watch 17 Miracles. I'm excited for the 17 Miracles. I still haven't seen that one.

Had a cool moment at church yesterday. It was kinda surreal to know that it was Hna. Dickson's last Sunday there and I was feeling the responsibility that I would have to head the work in Kuna. And our lesson in Relief Society was about Jesus Christ. Of course. It was exactly what I needed. As I was sitting there, I had an overwhelming feeling that I would be able to do this and that the members of the branch would be there for me. I will get to know them more and as I show love to them, they will trust me and help me and Kuna will explode. And knowing that Jesus Christ is there for me, He loves me and knows what I'm going through. He will help me.

That is my simple testimony this week. He lives. He loves us.

Love you all and hope you are doing well!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

PS Pray for me and for Kuna. Love you and thank you!

Pics:

1) We went to El Gallo Giro for lunch one day. Apparently it's a big deal around here. It was super good.

2) We were out in the middle of nowhere and I loved it.

3) Sunsets are the BEST.

Whirlwind of a week--Week 6 in Kuna

Familia y Amigos,

Wow. This week. Seriously crazy.

First off, if you've sent me a letter and had it returned to you, let me know. Because I've had that happen and need to know if it has happened more. I need to report it so they can get to the bottom of things.

So about my week. It seems like we've done soo much, but it's only been a week! I had to go to Boise a few times for doctor appointments and it was weird. Of course we got permission to go, but we could feel the difference being out of our mission. It's no joke that we stay in our mission and areas for a reason. Funny thing, though, as we were driving there, it felt like we were rebelling, so I started singing "Viva las BOISE!!" We had a pretty good laugh out of that. AND, we got to drive by the Boise temple. Pretty cool to see it. Other things that happened: my first exchanges, an INTENSE zone meeting, and got in a car accident. Exchanges were weird but good. I learned a lot and it made me really grateful for my area. Seriously, member participation makes a HUGE difference in missionary work. When members lose hope about missionary work progressing, it really puts a damper on things. Then, we had a really powerful zone meeting about obedience and the will of Heavenly Father. It was one of those meetings that you go away just like, "Woah..." One elder shared an experience about how he wanted to go home. He did not want to be on his mission for 6 months and finally was going to the mission president about it, but President Cannon told him that he needed to be here and that he needed to figure out Heavenly Father's will for him. That made him really think through things and go to the Savior about it. He testified very powerfully and humbly about the Atonement and how this is HIS work and not ours. We HAVE TO be obedient or we can't be effective. SO good. AND, last, but not least, we got in a car accident... Not to worry, we are both fine. We were seriously protected. Seriously. Heavenly Father is watching out for us. It had snowed pretty good then melted and froze and it was snowing again Friday night. We hadn't had to drive too much during the day, but we were headed to our branch president's house to help them move in. We were just coming to a stop sign at a T, and actually started breaking pretty early. But the ice just took us and we knew we weren't going to stop. So Hna. Dickson started speeding up and turning to try and make it in front of the car, but she still got us. We were in a little car and she was in a big truck. We weren't QUITE t-boned, but it was pretty close. One whole side of the car was pretty badly damaged and the airbag on the door deployed. So she went into the yard of the house on the left side of the street and we went into the ditch on the right. We weren't hurt at all, just a bit of weird sideways whiplash. Which, we actually had a lunch appointment with a member who is a chiropractor on Saturday. Coincidence, I think NOT. I am completely good and Hna. Dickson was just a bit emotionally shaken up, but otherwise, we are plugging along (without a car for a bit). We had to get rides to all of our meetings and appointments on Sunday and will have to for at least a week. Transfer calls are on Friday, so we'll see what ends up happening with the car situation. Our area is more than an hour drive from top to bottom and probably about that much from side to side, and we're the only Spanish speaking missionaries in the area, sooo it's not very likely we'll go without a car for very long. But who knows?

That's one thing that has been awesome since we crashed: the members' willingness to drive us and be super helpful. We were actually driven to a long-awaited appointment Sunday night that was about 40+ minutes from Kuna. It was SOO good. We had been trying to set up a time that would work for her and that would actually come through. And it finally happened. Her name is Lyla and Miguel is her boyfriend. He speaks only spanish, but she speaks english. So the relief society president came with us and we visited them. When Miguel came in, he didn't want to come sit down with us at first, but Lyla asked him to sit down. He was pretty resistant at first, but we talked to him and told him we just wanted to be his friend. We ended up singing a hymn and testifying. By the end, he was glad to let us come back and was joking around with us and stuff. It was kinda a breakthrough. 

One thing I know for sure is that Heavenly Father has a plan for us. There are no coincidences. This week was definitely a testament to that. Whenever we're about to do something awesome, we have a hard morning or hard day or something. Satan knows we're going to do something really monumentous, so he sends his hardest to get us not to. When we push through and bear the storm, we can see the rainbow on the other side. Truly.   

I love this gospel and am SO glad I'm here. Missionary work is truly amazing!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

Week 5 already?!

Amigos y familia!

I don't remember if I actually ever gave you all my address here! So here it is again:

 

Hermana Kelsey Shirley (has to have my full name, to avoid confusion and all, with ALL the other Hermana Shirleys)

1008 W Sanetta St.

Nampa, ID 83651

 

(I love letters. That's all. That'll be my only plea for letters, don't you even worry.)

Can you even believe it?! It's already been 4 weeks that I've been here! I'm starting to relax about the missionary stuff and really get the hang of things. Sister Dickson has been here in Kuna for her whole Nampa mission and just knows EVERYTHING about the area. When I first got here, I felt like I was just following her around and trying to help in any way I could, but she definitely was the one who really knew what was going on and what we needed to do. I had wanted for her to educate me about the area and help it so I didn't have to rely on her so much, and finally this week, we started doing that. One day when we were really out of it and having a hard day, we just spent a lot of the day working on paperwork and organizing our area book and we got maps of the area and ALL that fun stuff. It was actually realllly good that we did that. We now feel like we have things under control and organized. So that was a little blessing that didn't seem like it at first. Plus, it was awesome because we were way prepared for all of our correlation meetings on Sunday.

Sunday. It was our first reallllly long day. We had a meeting at 7AM, and it was kinda far out, so we had to wake up extra early. Then we had meeting after meeting with driving to different buildings in between until church at 1, then appointments all the way until 9! So a 14 hour day! It was crazy! And whenever we'd tell people we were exhausted, they'd just laugh and say, "Welcome to missionary life!" hah but it was really good. There's something to be said about working REALLY hard alll day and then just crashing at night. You have purpose and can feel like you really accomplished something.

Anyways, so at the very end of our day, we had to drop off another set of missionary's area book at their house. We had exactly 10 minutes until 9, so we knew we couldn't stop and talk, so ya know what we decided to do? Ding dong ditch deliver it. Yep. So I set it on their door, propped up against the door, and then rang and ran! SO FUN. Even though it wasn't even that big of a deal, we zoomed away laughing our heads off! I feel like that's key in being a full-time missionary: having fun. Those moments of laughter that keep us sane. Hermana Dickson told me this quote from Sister Hinkley once (and I definitely will not quote it right): "When I have the choice to laugh or cry, I choose to laugh. Because I prefer to laugh." So that's kinda been our motto. When it's really hard and we're getting down on ourselves, we just laugh at how ridiculous it is or laugh just because. It really helps.

I think that's the biggest thing I learned this week: The JOY of the gospel. It truly is the source of joy and happiness in this life. Seriously. When we're doing what's right, being obedient to God's commandments, and aligning our will with His, we are able to truly feel the fullness of this joy. It's really hard when we're stuck in a rut to think outside of ourselves, but really, when we turn to the gospel and to our Heavenly Father, Oh man! It's crazy how much of a load is lifted off our shoulders and how good we feel. It's pretty awesome. I can use all the help I can get! In case you didn't know, I love this gospel and know it is true. That's why I am here. To help others on their way to coming closer to Christ.

 

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Shirley

 

PS Sorry I'm super bad at sending pictures, I was never much of a picture taker... Thought that might change when I came on a mission, but turns out it doesn't. SO I'll take some and send them next week!