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