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