La ultima Adiós de Hermana Erickson

This is crazy....my last week completed in the mission. It's hard to realize/accept. I don't think it will feel real until I have been home for a few days. It has been such a wonderful adventure and journey. I have learned so much about my Savior, His gospel, and myself. A mission really is the highest of highs and the  lowest of lows. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. It is going to be so hard leaving all of this; I have really grown to love Nevada and Arizona, and I have loved being one of the representatives of the Savior. This opportunity to serve has been the best thing of my life, and I have grown so much. I received a blessing yesterday that said "your mission is just starting". I guess it is! I know that Heavenly Father has more in store for me.

As for this week, it went great. I just decided to work hard and leave it to the Lord. It wasn't crazy successful, but I felt happy and complete with the work that we gave. We saw some miracles that made it all worth it :) Emily, the part member family that we teaching, accepted a baptismal date for Oct 8 (the same day that my sister is getting baptized :))!!! She is super excited to be baptized, and I can't wait to skype in to see it!

Another wonderful miracle that we had, was how we found a new investigator this week. We were in this apartment complex, and I could vividly remember an apartment door. A few weeks earlier, I had seen a young mom walk into the door from a ways off. So, we decided to go knock on the door this week. They ended up not being interested, but I felt like we should knock the neighbors door. She ended up being super prepared and ready for the gospel. I love being a small part of God's
plan :)

Just two updates on some investigators: Steven and Lisa--Steven had another spinal fluid leak, and we are assuming he is in the hospital again. We don't know much of what is going on, but we know that they still do want to get baptized. Hopefully Sis Gacke and Goddard (my trainee is coming here!!! :D) will be able to accomplish that. Lupe and Josh--They are so willing to accept and live everything that we teach them! We taught them two commandments this week; tithing and Word of Wisdom, which are both hard to live. But they decided to just do it right then and there. They are a great example of faith to me.

To close out my last letter, I would like to bear my testimony to you all :) I know with all of my heart that this gospel is true, that it really is the same church that Christ set up when he was on the earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God; I have found so many answers from it. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. If we use his atonement, we can return and live with our Heavenly Father. Our Heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love, and
desires our happiness. He will make us more than we can ever imagine if we let him. I can feel of that love, and I know that is real now. I know that our families can be together forever and that we have a living prophet on the earth today. This gospel has only brought me joy and has helped me become a better person. I am so humbled that I had the chance to serve my Heavenly Father.

I love you all! My homecoming talk will be September 25 :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Week of Disasters and Miracles

This week was........ A week. It was kinda bad, not going to lie. We had something go wrong each day this week, and so we and the work suffered. It was difficult to keep going at points, but luckily
Heavenly Father sent us a few miracles here and there. Looking back on the week, it makes me laugh just because it was so many things that went wrong. So I'll give you a short list so that you can have a laugh too, and then I'll get to the miracles ;)

Monday: Our lesson that we had ended up being the couple arguing back and forth at each other. It was sooooo awkward. Tuesday: We started to pack up our house and deep clean it to move,
but then we got a call that the move was put on hold. Wednesday: Our car got taken over by TiWi (our monitoring system) so our car broke down. Thursday: The move for our apartment got cancelled totally. Later in the evening, one of the elders crashed his bike, so we took them to
urgent care. Saturday: My wrist started to hurt pretty bad, so we had to go to urgent care again. Just ended up being tendinitis. (Are you laughing yet, cause I am)

All of these things happened for a reason this week, and I learned a lot. I'm ready for this week and to improve and be better. Some of the miracles that we saw: We got a call from a member in Kingman for a referral for a less-active. We were able to meet her that day, and get her to church
on Sunday. She was able to make some friends and now feels very
comfortable! 

We are teaching a Part member family, the wife is not a member. We've only been teaching her for about two weeks, but she told us that she wants to be baptized! She wants to have a date picked out by Tuesday :) 

We had some really spiritual lessons this week, including a testimony meeting with one of our investigators. She has been having a hard time deciding whether or not this is something she wants, but the testimonies from a member family were very powerful. And, she was able to receive a
blessing.

Challenges and trials always have a good side, and we saw lots of those good things this week. No we weren't as successful as the last weeks, but we were still able to help many people. I love this gospel!  Because of it, I get to have a clean slate whenever I need it. I am so ready to make this last week the best!!! I love you all tons!

Love,

Hermana Erickson

I never want to leave!

We had another great week here in Bullhead! It was still hot....it actually got hotter. But then we had a tiny bit of rain, so that made us feel good! Again, we taught and found a lot this week, and we had some investigators come to church. So overall is was just really really good :) I feel so blessed to be having such a great transfer before I go home. I definitely just want to keep doing this for forever :)

The start of the week was a little slow, and it probably had to do with the fact that we were not sleeping well and were exhausted. The neighborhood we live in is not the best, so after some stuff happened, we finally convinced the mission to get us a new apartment. We should be moving out this Thursday to a new and safer apartment. Gratefully, the promptings the of the spirit kept us safe. The power of Heavenly Father is real!

We saw lots of miracles this week with teaching and finding. We were able to find another mom and daughter pair. We had two appts in Laughlin, and nothing was going right. I felt like we were not where Heavenly Father needed us to be, so I suggested we go to another area. We decided to try an apartment complex we had never been to, and we were able to find the mom and daughter. Mom has cancer, and the daughter has a girl of her own. They were very receptive, and the mom had said we had come at the perfect time for their family. It's pretty amazing when the Lord puts you in exactly the right place at the right time.


That's all for this week. It is wonderful here and I am going to miss it a lot. I'm going to miss everything about the mission (well maybe not walking around when it's 120 outside) and I'm so grateful that I made the decision to serve. It has changed me and I know that is has changed my future. I'm nervous about what is to come, but I know that I have done what I can here. I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Erickson

AWESOME week and a baptism

Hey y'all! I have some bad news--I've decided that I am never going to leave my mission. Haha! I'm going to stay here forever. Hopefully my mission president agrees ;) Too bad that will never happen...besides, my family would drag me home before I could do that! ;) This week was really great and everything worked out for us. We found a ton and taught a ton as well. Plus, I got to see my Mohawk friend from North Las Vegas get baptized this weekend! :)

We were finally able to see two of our investigators this week. He is still very week and she is overwhelmed, but we were able to have a good lesson with them and get her a blessing. Their baptismal date was set for this weekend, but he still isn't physically up to do it that soon. So they decided to do it my last Saturday in the mission, September 3rd. That will be a great way to end :) Like I have said before, it has been amazing to see their progress. For her to want a blessing is huge--she has been basically atheist her whole life so she has made some huge changes. I am so grateful to be a part of their process!

I was lucky enough to find a ride up to North Las Vegas on Saturday, and I was able to see our former investigator be baptized. Sister Loveless and I taught him back in December when we were in the YSA ward. His dad has worked for 11 months to become active, so he was able to baptize him. Plus, his mom has started taking the lessons, and they hope to be sealed in the Portland OR temple next year! Their story started 35 years ago when his dad was in the marines. He saw another person reading the Book of Mormon, and became interested in what it was. He was later baptized by that friend. See the difference that we can make when we share the gospel!

We found this mom and daughter, and they are wonderful! They were studying with another religion, and we're feeling really depressed by what they were hearing. It was not making them happy at all. So they decide to stop, but wanted to find a church to go to. We were walking
out of a lesson when we heard someone yell "Are you JWs? (Jehovah Witnesses)" We responded that we weren't, but that we could explain our message :) It was pretty cool to be street contacted by someone, and then to now be teaching them.

It was just a really great week here in Bullhead. The heat has gone up again, but we are still enjoying ourselves. I'm going to miss this so much..... I love having the opportunity to be a small part of God's plan for other people. Love you all very much!!

A Week Full of Surprises

Hi everyone! I hope that you are all enjoying the summer, I bet it isa lot cooler where you are at ;) But this week, the weather cooled down for us a little bit, it was below 120! It's funny how anything
below 110 feels really good now. I'm going to freeze back in WA! We had lots of things happen this week that made the work more difficult, but others things that made it easier. Esta es la Vida ;) We also had
interviews this week with our mission president up in Kingman! But it was a good week overall :)

So for the not so fun surprises.... First off, we were visiting this sweet older lady in the middle week. As we were talking with her, she told of us of her trials she had recently going through, including having BED BUGS recently. AAAAHHHHH!! So as soon we ended our visit, we went to Walmart and bought some spray and sprayed everything that we possibly we could. So that was fun...no signs of bugs yet. Also, our car overheated while we were on exchanges. So currently I am writing this from the car dealership. This morning we had to get our
door and window fixed, nothing happened, it's just an old apartment. So hopefully we don't have many more of these kind of surprises!

For the good surprises! We are teaching this couple. When I first met them, I didn't think that they were going to be that interested. They just didn't seem like they were paying attention. But then they kept inviting us over and over again....this last lesson that we had, she told us that she is pretty sure that this is the
right path for her!! :) They have a 3 year old that makes it difficult to teach lessons, but every time we go over, he gets a little bit calmer...just the tiniest bit. But we were super excited that they are so interested. It amazes me every time!

Another good surprise was another lesson this week. We were trying to figure out how we could bring up baptism to one of our investigators again. Her parents are not very happy with her taking the lessons, so we were nervous that it would make her angry or overwhelmed to talk about baptism again. So we decided to talk about family history and temples. At the end, I felt prompted to talk about her currently family situation with her, and the promise that she now has the choice of having a future eternal family. She then started talking to us about her concerns with her family and baptism. It worked out perfectly. I keep praying that her families heart will be softened so that she can be baptized!

Something that I love about reaching the end of my mission is that I get to look back. I have been surprised at the changes that have happened within me, and how my testimony of the gospel has grown. I never thought that I could be so close to the Savior and Heavenly Father. A mission is difficult--I'm not going to lie. You will have
ups and downs. But it is all for your own good. Everything that I have experienced on my mission has just helped me to become the person that Heavenly Father wants me to be. Enjoy every minute that you are given. It is precious!

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

Still Surviving in Bullhead!

Helllloooo everyone! I can't believe that it is August already! All I
know is that I am ready for this heat to be over. It has been 120
almost every day here for the past week. SIster Gacke and I had to
make a quick trip to Walmart during the week to buy even more
Powerade. Plus, we almost killed one of our YW so we bought her an ice
cream cone for enduring the heat with us. Supposedly monsoon season is
supposed to start soon....please pray that it happens. :)

So Sister Gacke is my new companion, President just messed up on the
email by accident. Haha! She is from Washington State too!! :) She is
from a tiny town on the other side of Mount Rainer called Eatonville.
She has been out for nine months and is a great worker. Sadly, she
twisted her ankle in her last area so we had to get her a boot from
urgent care this week. But it hasn't stopped her! She is excited to
kill me/send me home. It will be a lot of fun working with her for my
last weeks!

We saw some really cool miracles from listening to the promptings of
the Holy Ghost this week. We had to grab some water from the church,
and we're getting back into our car, when I saw this lady walking on
the church grass. I felt impressed to talk to her, but brushed off the
prompting. By the time we figured out where we were going, she was
sitting on the sidewalk next to the church. I started to drive, but
again that prompting came. So I pulled over to talk to her, and we
ended up teaching her a lesson. She said that she had gone to the
church before, but her life had gotten too busy to keep coming. She
had been having some problems that night, and decided to walk. She
almost went to the river, but felt like she needed to walk towards the
church. We were there at the same time! Heavenly Father knows his
children so much better than we do!

Well, that's all from Arizona! I'm trying to make time slow down but
it's not happening. So I'm trying to make the most of every moment
that I can! I love you all so very much :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Monsoons and Miracles

Happy 4th of July!!! I can't believe that a year ago today I was with Sister Allen at a baptism. Time really does fly! Right now we are on the road to Lake Havasu to be with our zone for the Fourth. This evening we are having a FHE at a member's home with some of our investigators. Hopefully we will get a burger at some point, and the day will be complete ;)

This week was filled with all sorts of stuff! We had a full-on monsoon after zone conference. We had been in Kingman all day, and we had seen a few storm clouds, but not anything too big. As we were eating dinner, we turned around and it was pouring down rain with crazywinds! So we had to stay with our members for a little bit until it cleared up. We tried driving around, and a lot of the roads were basically rivers. It definitely made for an interesting night!

Time for some miracles! Remember how last week we had a random lady come to church and then she became our investigator? Well she is doing really well and accepted baptism! :) Anyways, we had something similar happen again this Sunday! We had to drop our Spanish investigator, so I was pretty bummed out that we didn't have many Hispanics to teach. Just as sacrament was ending, a member came up with a Hispanic couple. Apparently, they have been having tons of challenges, and a friend suggested that our church might be able to help them out. They had never been to our church before, but now want to be taught and baptized! It was a really amazing miracle, I still can't believe it happened!

We are teaching this really awesome girl. Her boyfriend just got his mission call to Peru, and she became interested in why he would be serving a mission. She has been taking the lessons for about a month now. Her situation is interesting since she basically has no religious background. Sometimes she tries to analyze things intellectually, but we've been teaching her on how to learn by the Spirit. It has been an adjustment to her, but she has enjoyed it so far. She is super sweet and loves learning! I am always so excited to teach her.

Luckily the monsoons have kept the heat down, so we haven't been suffering too much this week! We really love it here and are excited about the work and blessings that keep coming our way! :) love you all!

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Roastin' in the Bullhead Heat

This week was again pretty awesome! I am loving it here in Bullhead. The heat is basically unbearable.....I try not to think about it too much. It makes it hard to talk to people outside. We tried knocking a bunch of doors this week, but people must have been either at the river or asleep, cause no one was answering! But we still had a really good week, nonetheless. When people do answer the door, they either let us inside or give us water and have pity on us. It works to our advantage ;)

We had a miracle happen yesterday! This member hunted us down right before sacrament started, and let us know that there was a less-active member with his fiancée at church. We were able to catch them after
the first hour ended, and helped them get to the right classes. The nonmember is really sweet and was very excited to be at church! She wants to take the missionary lessons and learnmore about the gospel, so we are going to teach her this Wednesday! :)

We are teaching this awesome couple. Her mom joined the church not too long ago, but they were never
interested in joining. They kept feeling like they needed to do it though, so they tried every which way to get out of it. They ended up looking up anti-material, but the sisters told them to not look at it
for a week, and see if there was a difference. After that week, they wanted to be baptized, and are very committed. They still have lots and lots of questions, but are willing to give up anything to be baptized. It is amazing to see how the Spirit can work!

We weren't able to set a baptismal date yet with one of our investigators, but we had a really powerful lesson with him about the priesthood. The priesthood is the power or authority to act in God's name, and is the power by which we can be baptized. Many churches believe that this power wasn't lost from the earth after Christ's death, but we know that it was and was later restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. He was confused about baptism because he had been baptized already, but as missionaries we teach that we need to be baptized by the proper authority. We taught him again about the priesthood, and the Spirit was so strong. I'm hoping that it helps to change his mind.

I had lots more amazing experiences this week, but those are what stuck out the most! We are teaching some very prepared people, and it makes me so happy to see the gospel help people. That's what I am here to do--bring happiness to everyone! I love you all :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Heading off to Arizona

Transfers came and I'm leaving Pueblito! It was a needed change for me... I was starting to hit my breaking point and needed something new. I joked with my President that I needed a breath of fresh air...preferably one that smelled like tacos and tamales ;) I've been asking over and over again to go to Spanish, but at the same time, I love my English wards. My new area is the best of both worlds!! I am going "out of valley" to Bullhead City, AZ. The cool thing about my new area is that it is an English ward but.... I GET TO TEACH IN SPANISH TOO :D There is no Spanish branch/ward out there, so we get to teach everyone. I am sooooo excited :) My new companion is Sis Ludlow, who also speaks Spanish! It's going to be a blast!

We got to go to the Hoover Dam on Monday, which was a really neat experience. There is a member that works there, so he took us on a underground tour of the dam and told us all of these cool facts. It was fun to go with our district! He told us that they almost filmed Hunger Games there, but the filmmakers wanted to do a shot of the dam blowing up. I guess that isn't allowed....but hey, we got to be where they filmed Transformers! It was a fun start to our week. It makes me miss traveling with my Dad!

We had a rough week at the beginning.  Last Sunday, we received a referral from a set of elders for a couple that wanted to be baptized. Their sons were already baptized a few months ago, so they wanted an eternal family. We met this Sunday evening, and they are golden!!! They accepted everything that we taught them, and wanted us to push them towards their goal of baptism. They accepted a baptismal date for July 25th!!!! YAY WHOOP WHOOP :D These past two transfers have been really hard since I haven't seen much fruits from my labors. But it was amazing that Heavenly Father allowed me to see this happen before I left.

I'm really sad to leave, I have grown to love this ward. It has been amazing to see the influence we have on people....I can never recognize it until someone tells me. No, I didn't have any baptisms in this ward. But I know Heavenly Father gives us challenges to make us better people and to strengthen our testimony. I know that my testimony has been strengthened and that I have developed into a new person. I have been very grateful lately for my trials...and for the people Heavenly Father gave me to help me get through everything. I love this ward and area because of who I became here.

I'm excited for this new transfer, and I'm guessing that I'll probably end my mission in Bullhead. That's a really weird thought. Haha! Let's
see what blessings come! :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Lessons I've learned and a baptism

This week has been incredibly hot.... Summer is here yet again! Sis Daulton is having a hard time adjusting to the heat, and I don't remember it being this hot last June. We either get two reactions from people on the street when they see us--1: they don't answer the door and try to hide. 2: They feel sorry for us and give us water. I always like number 2 better even though it is funny to see people duck and hide. ;) Apparently two white girls are pretty frightening haha!

I don't know if it was because of the weather or something else, but all of our lessons cancelled this week. It was pretty disappointing. We weren't able to find new investigators either even though we talked to sooooo many people! This transfer has taught me a lot as a missionary and person. For one, I have had to stop caring what others think of me. I know that Sis Daulton and I are working as hard as we can and talking to everyone. All that matters is that Heavenly Father is proud of the work I am doing. Sometimes we won't see the blessings of our work until the next life, but they will come. I've also learned patience. Whether it be with myself, companion, others, or God's plan, patience is required of me every day! I know that attribute will help me a lot for the rest of my mission and afterwards.

We got a Mormon.org referral, asking if he could meet with missionaries somewhere else besides his home. We texted him the next day, and set up a lesson for that week. He has never had much religion in his life, but something interested him from the website. We ended up teaching him, but he turned out to be YSA age. So, we had to turn him over to the other sisters. I was lucky enough to teach him a few more times on exchanges. He turned out to be the most golden person I have ever met. He would just sit and read the BOM for hours, and have tons of questions for each lesson. This Saturday he was baptized, and we were
able to go. It was amazing to be a small part of his conversion. I remember when we got the referral feeling like we needed to text this person as soon as possible. The Spirit knew how much he wanted the gospel! Definitely the highlight of my week, if not the transfer.

If you don't know already, this transfer has been a difficult one for me. Lots of factors have played into that, so you will just have to wait until I come home for me to share more. I have been so grateful for prayer, scripture study, and priesthood blessings. There have been many times where I have felt overwhelmed, discouraged, and frustrated. But Heavenly Father has given me so many different resources to receive the guidance and direction I have needed. I'm grateful that we have the knowledge that God is our Heavenly Father and that he cares for us individually and has given us His gospel again on this earth. I don't know what I would do without that.

I love you all! Thank you for the prayers and notes of encouragement. 

It means everything to me!

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Trunky papers and a better week in Pueblo

This week went better! Yay! We were able to teach, find some new investigators, serve, and eat some BBQ ;) President said that I have been doing a really good job to help Sister Daulton. That was really nice to hear and reassuring. I was having a hard time this last Monday, so I was able to receive another priesthood blessing from a member in our ward. At the very end, it said that the Lord was pleased with my mission. It made my heart happy to know that :) ...sometimes I just need Heavenly Father to say things LOUDLY so that I can get it through my thick skull! ;)

So Trunky papers...dun dun DUN! Last Monday, I got the email asking for my departure information. NOOOOOO! We had interviews on Wednesday, and I told my President that I wanted to make the most of my last two transfers. I realized what I had just said, and then promptly burst into tears. It's really weird to think that I will be home in three short months. This has been my life for so long, that it is hard to imagine something else. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see you all, but I'm going to miss here too!! So for all of you that just started, or feel like the mission is taking forever, trust me. It ends way too soon. Make the most of it!

One of the days this week (sorry, they all blend into one), I was getting super frustrated with everything that was happening. We had planned some people that I had already met and talked to, and wouldn't be home at that time anyways. Our appt fell through, and it was HOT! And I about broke my necklace. So yeah, I wasn't in the greatest of moods. I decided that we should just tract a street since there was no potentials on it. We did almost the whole street, and had time for one more door. This guy answered, and he didn't seem all that interested. We then started talking about the Book of Mormon, and his eyes lit up and said "Jesus
came to the Americas? Really?" Of course we get super excited, and we were able to set an apt with him for this week! It was really amazing that the Lord blessed us with a miracle, right at the end. It was like He was saying "You can do this!"

Our Bishop gave a really awesome lesson to all of the adults about Member Missionary work this Sunday. Can I get up on my soapbox for just a minute? If you aren't sharing the gospel as a member, you need to do it! There are no excuses, Heavenly Father has asked us all to participate! Something that really helped me was remembering that the invitation is the success, not what the other person says. So if you invite, then you succeed! As missionaries, we cannot do it alone. It is impossible! In our mission, it takes 45 new investigators to equal one baptism. That number goes down substantially if members are involved. At one point, it took 22 investigators for one baptism, and that's because the members were involved! Just do it! :)

Things are looking up here... I don't think it will ever be easy peasy, but there are definitely days that are easier than others. Just got to focus on all the good that is happening! I love you all so so so much :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Watching for Small Miracles

This week was about the same sadly! If it's even possible, the work inour area slowed down even more this  than the last. At points it's really frustrating when nothing happens.... I think sometimes as missionaries, we expect immediate results because of our hard work and obedience. But life isn't like that; sometimes Heavenly Father gives us challenges when we are doing our best (actually, I think it usually happens that way, haha!). But, my attitude about what was going on changed. I realized that I could try to find the small things that were going right and make those my focus.

I was able to go on exchanges again with Sister Loveless at the beginning of the week. Remember that really cool referral, Mike, that we ended up sending to YSA? Well, I got to teach him twice on exchanges! He is progressing really well--he is what you would call a golden investigator! Sis Daulton and I came out of Pday sports around 5 pm. Mike was outside the chapel reading his Book of Mormon! The best part is that the lesson wasn't until 6 pm!!! :D In one of the lessons I taught him, we set him with a baptismal date for June 4th! He is awesome--The STLs have been keeping us updated on him, so it has been really exciting to see how he is doing.

We talked to so many people this week, it was insane. We talked to a whopping 97 people! As you all know, street contacting is not one of my strengths. I still feel like I am going to throw up on the person
every time we walk up to talk to someone. But I have been very proud of myself this week. Haha! I really tried to go out of my way to talk to people, even when it was especially awkward or weird. Luckily,
Sister Daulton has no trouble with being bold, so she will yell "HELLO!" From across the street. I will never be that bold, but she does awesome at it!

Our week was soooooo slow until Sunday, which is funny since that is usually a slow day for missionary work. We were able to find 3 new investigators :) One of them was really cool: We were trying this
house, and I felt prompted that we should try a potential that lived right next door after talking to the house we were knocking on. That door answered, and while we were talking, Sister Daulton left me and went to the door that I had felt prompted to knock on. The potential had walked out, and Daulton felt like she needed to talk to her right then. It was pretty cool!

That was our week! I really appreciate the constant prayers on my behalf. I know that I am never alone....
Heavenly Father and the Savior are always with me, especially when times are hard. Love you all!

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Focusing on Others

This week was...... Challenging in many different ways. Our work here has really slowed down, and not much is happening, sadly. Our person with a baptismal date was evicted and her mom died, so the timing is not good right now. We have been finding, but a lot of our investigators haven't been keeping their commitments. I'm trying to remain positive and see what the Lord wants me to do here.

Miracle of the week: We got a referral from Mormon.org. The family members that he lives with are really against religion of any kind, so he asked to meet somewhere else. We were able to have a lesson with him at our church building, and he had tons of questions. I asked how he had found Mormon.org, and he said it had just popped up on his screen, so he decided to check it out. It's
interesting to see how Heavenly Father works. Sadly, he is YSA (Young Single Adult) age, so we had to pass him off to the sisters that cover that ward. But, he went to church on Sunday, so I'm excited to see how he continues to progress!

This transfer has definitely been different than the last, and I'm realizing that I need to change my focus from the area/key indicators to the ward and my companion. Our sacrament meeting this Sunday was all about service, and I felt impressed that I needed to focus on serving the ward and focus on the needs of my companion. Sometimes as missionaries, we get caught up in constantly asking the ward members for help, and not giving anything in return. I am totally guilty of expecting each ward to be the same and willing to do missionary work. So, I want to serve the ward, especially our Bishop.

I know that I am here in this particular area with my companion for a reason. I need to trust in Heavenly Father's plan. I have been really grateful for prayer these past two weeks--it is amazing that we are able to communicate with our Heavenly Father as much as we want each and every day. I'm grateful for all of your prayers on my behalf. Scripture for this week: 1 Nephi 3:7--" I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no
commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Mother's Day and Food Poisoning

I can't believe another week has gone by already! It's been a crazy week with lots of changes and adjustments. It was completed with my last FaceTime call with my family. That is really weird to say. I remember my first Mother's Day and thinking that it would be forever until I saw my family again. And now, the next time I see my family will be in person. Time has gone by way too fast.

I was cleaning the house Tuesday morning in preparation for my new companion, when I get a call from another set of sisters in our zone. They told/warned me that Sister Daulton had food poisoning/stomach flu, and was throwing up. Poor Sister Daulton had begun feeling icky Monday night and didn't feel better until Thursday evening. It was a long start to week one. It's nice to be at home for about 2 hours and then you start going crazy with nothing to do.  There are only so many things that you can write in your journal. Or only so many Mormon Messages.

I was really grateful for the opportunity to serve Sister Daulton right off the bat. It is easy to feel Christ-like love for someone when you serve! I was really grateful for our ward members this week
as well. They were willing to bring me dinner, and also go on splits with me. I really appreciated all of the things they were able to help me with. It helped me not to feel so alone in all of it! I was also able to receive a priesthood blessing, which has really calmed me down with everything going on. I love that I have a ward family no matter where I go!

Sister Loveless was transferred to my zone and is my STL. :) We were able to go on exchanges this week, and it felt just like old times. I love that girl so much! She helped me through a lot and gave me the confidence that I needed going into the rest of the week. I'm glad I have my Washington buddy yet again :)

That was about it for the week since we were inside for most of it. Keep the prayers coming, I need as many as I can get! I love you all so very much :) "Keep the faith, the church is true!"

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Elder Holland and Transfers yet again!

This week has been really great here in Henderson! It has definitely kept us on our toes, but we received so much revelation and guidance this week. We definitely saw some miracles and Sister Greene and I enjoyed our last week together. To start it off, we were able to finally set someone with a baptismal date!!! YAY :) Her date is set for May 28th. She is a single mom, we found her by just knocking on her door. We are so so excited :D

Elder Holland was here from Friday to Sunday. We only were able to see him on Friday, but you could feel the spiritual force throughout the valley for the weekend ;) Not really, but I wish! Haha! Before meeting him, we took a picture with our whole mission. It took about a half hour to get all 200 missionaries in one place and quiet. Just as we got all figured out, the mission leadership told us that Holland was pulling up, so we all needed to be quiet. Then, he walked it....it was
intense! The first thing he said was "Boo!" Haha :) We then all went and shook his hand..... I can't remember looking at his face. I think I was in so much shock that all I can remember thinking is "His hand is big" haha!

Elder Holland and President Robins both gave very spiritual talks. Pres Robins talked about how we are here in our mission will determine the kind of person we are after our missions. We have to not only do Christ-like things, but we must be Christ-like. Elder Holland told us that the apostles and full-time missionaries are the only ones that share the gospel full-time. I loved something that he said--we have to talk to everyone or we are judging them as God does. He also spoke of how important it is to teach by the spirit, but also that we have to be worthy of it. The spirit is the only way we will help the investigator understand the gospel. It was a great Friday and I learned things that I will always remember!!

So it's transfers again....it's crazy that I only have three transfers left. GAH! Time is going way too fast!! So the verdict of transfers........I will be staying in Pueblo, Sister Greene is going
over to my last Zone, Warm Springs/Anthem. We are really sad to be separated. We knew that she would probably leave, but it's sad to know that it is actually happening now. I have another special assignment (I got another call Sat morning from our Sister APs before transfer
doc), and am following training again. My new companion is Sister Daulton. Send some prayers my way because I am pretty nervous for this transfer!

I love you all! I can't wait to talk to my family this coming Sunday. I wish I could talk and see you all, but that will just have to wait for another four months :) Until next week!

Love,

Hermana Erickson

The week of locura

So this week was not the best. It was hard and not a ton happened. We
had lots of pains and afflictions.... I will talk about it more in
just a bit. But all that matters is that we improve this week and
become better. The Lord will always give us trials, it just depends
what we do with them that matters. We are very optimistic for this
week and for what is to come.

So Tuesday morning I woke up sick and was just feeling awful. Luckily
it didn't last for too long. At the beginning of the week, Sister
Greene mentioned that her knees were really bothering her. We called
the mission Doctor, but they just had her keep trying different things
to ease the pain. But nothing was working, it just continued to get
worse. So they had a doctor call her from Salt Lake, and diagnosed her
with arthritis. They think it's that, so they are having her take
medicine for a week to see if gets better. I feel so bad for her--it
is never fun to be a missionary when you are in pain.

We also had a crazy experience yesterday. We were having ward council
(it's basically where all of the congregation's leadership gets
together to discuss the needs of the members) and the Primary
president mentioned that there was a outbreak of Hand-foot-mouth
disease in the kids. So they cancelled church for the last two hours.
It was a madhouse trying to disinfect the chapel before the ward got
there. So fingers crossed, it ends soon!

We had a really great lesson with an investigator. Her
grandpa recently died and she is going through a really tough time. It
was difficult for me as well when my Grandma passed, but the only way
I got through it was with the gospel. I knew exactly where she was and
that I would see her again in the future. It was wonderful to be able
to share that  and to help her through her trials. I know
that God gives us challenges to help us become better and to rely on
him more. The wonderful thing is that he never leaves us alone during
them. He is always there for us.

I love you all! Keep the prayers coming because I will need them for
this week!! I am really excited to meet Elder Holland and receive
counsel for the last part of my mission.

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Visitors and new friends

This week has been pretty good! It was a little slower than the last
couple, but it was bound to happen at some point. But, all is good. We
still taught a lot and found some people to teach. It was a good week
overall :) We had some really fun experiences and some pretty amazing
miracles!

There was a big zone conference this week, and President had an
announcement for us...... A few weeks ago, we found out that one of
the Quorum of the 12 would be coming to our mission! For those of you
that have no idea what I am talking about, here's some help :) As
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe
that we have a modern day prophet on the Earth. His name is Thomas S
Monson, and he has the same responsibilities that prophets of old had.
He also has 12 apostles, just as Jesus Christ did. So to meet one of
the them is a pretty big deal! The apostle that will be visiting
is...(drumroll please!)......HOLLAND!!! GAH!! I am ooper dooper
excited beyond belief! We each get to shake his hand....it's going to
be intense!! :D Definitely the highlight of my week :) He will be
coming April 29th!

The not so exciting part of zone conference was getting our new
"friends"...... We call them the black boxes. Black boxes of death
basically. They go into your car and hook up to the odometer and
computer inside. And then they talk to you if you go too fast, and
make hard stops or turns. You have to slide a card each time you get
in or out of the car......it's really fun getting used to. So we all
are loving our new amigos. Claro que NO Jajajaja.

One thing I LOVE about being a missionary is seeing how God works out
His plan. Basically, there are no such thing as coincidences. Last
week, we had an appt that fell through. As we were walking away from
the house, there was a guy across the street working on his car. We
went over and started talking to him. At first he said he wasn't
interested, but then asked about missionary life since he had a friend
that served a mission. We talked about that and the BOM, and it ended
up being a great lesson. We weren't able to set up another appt, so we
decided to visit him the next Sunday. When we went there, his mom
answered the door. At first she wasn't interested, but then asked a
question about the Book of Mormon. Then we taught her a lesson, and
she committed to come to church. It is a testimony to me that God has
it all worked up out there....we just need to trust in His plan.

We are teaching this super fun couple. They let us
inside because of how windy it was one night. They are so funny, and
really love to talk. This last week, we had the
opportunity to teach them.  We had left her a chapter to read in the
BOM, about faith. When we what the chapter was about, her eyes got all
big. She then asks "How did you know?" I had no idea what she was
talking about....and then she asked it again! It turns out that two
people that week had told her that she needed to work on her faith.
And then we gave her a chapter to read about faith. It was so cool!
She also told us that whenever we come, she feels peaceful and she
doesn't hear the wind or traffic outside. I love the power of the Holy
Ghost!!

That was our week here in Pueblito :) We are now starting our
"prepping for Holland" for the next two weeks. I can't wait to see the
miracles that come! Love you all :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson