So many fun things to talk about this week! To start off, OH MY GOODNESS THE WEATHER! It's been amazing :) Saturday, we woke up to a HUGE thunder storm. Lightning was flashing and thunder was booming every few seconds. It was so cool! We all just kind of stared out the windows like zombies all morning, halfheartedly trying to exercise, eat, dress for the day etc.. It died down a bit but by the time it was Language Study it built itself back up! What was intense was that we were reading in 3 Nephi 8 (tempesets, earthquakes, whirlwinds) while it was all happening ha! ahhhh it made me so happy! The rest of the day it was pouring cats and dogs! BLESSING! AND SUPER FUN! I was able to use my rain coat ;) Glad we aren't on bikes yet.....
Our Temple shifts have been such a blessing. We get to meet HUNDREDS of people everyday. (especially Fridays.. all those weddings haha) While there are a bunch of members that visit, there are also many non-members that stop by! The temples of God draw everyone :) And I get to tell them how special they are! I think the most interesting thing that has happened to us so far was meeting a family of 16! (14 kids) It was a cute family from Arizona and man oh man... Sister Saedan thought they were crazy.
Fun story!Sunday, while we were standing at the entrance of the church greeting people, a Utah license plate finds its way to a parking spot. The parents were the first to walk by and shake our hands, explaining they were on vacation. The last girl to walk up has a huge smile on her face and tells us about how she just returned from her mission in New Zealand! (now at this point I was kind of thinking she looked familiar) "Really? I have an amazing friend serving in New Zealand right now!" I told her. "What's her name?" She asked me. "Kayla Nakagawa, did you know her?" Her face LIGHTS UP "I TRAINED HEEEEERRRR!!!"
This is the SECOND time I have met my friends trainers! I guess San Diego is the place to be... haha! She took a picture so send to Kayla :) it just about made my day! I recognized her from some of the emails I received from Sister Nakagawa.
What REALLY finished the day off great was meeting up with Sister Whitcomb again that night at the Mission President's Fireside!!! It was better than Christmas morning....AH! I've missed her so much. Maybe if luck will have it, we can be companions later on ;)
The Fireside was incredible, even the drive back was fun. All the lights were reflecting off of the water and the roads looked like I was driving on rivers (I was especially careful, don't worry)
The only down side to all this rain is the humidity.... Our run yesterday morning.... dang, I thought I was going to die! There was no oxygen in the air! JUST WATER!
On a spiritual note, H's has solidified August 8th as her baptismal date! It's just that much more exciting having been here the entire teaching process. Yesterday I couldn't stop giggling for some reason after another amazing lesson with her. Sister Saedan kept asking why I was so happy and it was really just the thought that I get to be a part of H's life and journey not only now, but for the rest of eternity. Parts of my Patriarchal Blessing are coming to life and it just excites me! God truly does prepare those who are ready and if you are doing your part, he will put them in your path and you WILL recognize them.
iPads are another story... BUT! President's email he just sent us gave me some comfort. He inserted a quote from Thomas S. Monson that reads "That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our capacity to do has increased."
to that I say Amen.
I LOVED all the pictures this week! Keep it up :) and thank you!
-Sister Carlson
Six months for Sister Star
