Feliz Pascua y Bienvenidos a nueva area!

Hello Everyone! :) I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and were able
to reflect on the life of the Savior. As we were talking with people
yesterday, everyone kept saying "Come back a different day, it's
Easter today." I couldn't help but laugh--wouldn't Easter be the best
day to hear a message about Christ? ;) It was a pretty awesome week!
This area has so much untapped potential, and I am super excited for
this transfer.

Sister Greene is awesome! We have had such a fun time this week
together :) She is from Georgia, and has been out for 6 weeks. I am
follow-up training her; it is so fun to be  around some "greenie" fire
again :) We were able to find a lot of people this week and teach a
lot of lessons. She kept telling me "this never happens! Why is this
happening? This is awesome!" Though it is different than being a STL,
I love being in this area. I realized that I learned a ton from the
last two transfers, and I have been able to apply a lot of things. I'm
so grateful that I had the opportunity to be in leadership, and that
the Lord provided ways for me to improve and learn.

We had a baptism this Saturday! It was weird walking into one, but
luckily I was able to teach her a few times before the actual baptism.
Her name is Kerra, and she is a firecracker! She is 12, and has known
about the church for a long time. Her mom just starting coming back to
church, so Kerra expressed a desire to be baptized to the Sisters. The
baptism was very spiritual, and Kerra was so happy when she got out of
the water. She is going to be a great example to her family and
friends!

We had some crazy things happen as well....haha. It wouldn't be
missionary life without a little bit of that right? For one, we
totally confounded a bible basher, and he is one of our new
investigators! Whoop whoop! :) I hate bible bashers, and just usually
walk away, but he was being really nice about it....haha. We will see
how it goes this week! 2. When I met our new bishop, he said "Welcome
to the hood!" Hahaha! This is definitely not anthem anymore. 3. We had
to go rescue some sisters on a bike trail b/c one of them crashed. She
had to get 7 stitches in her foot (at least I got to practice some of
my nursing skills ;)).

I am happy and loving the new experiences. I can't wait to hear from
our Prophet this weekend. It's going to be great! I love you all :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson

New assignment: Free Agent!

Yet another week has passed by in the mission. The time just keeps going faster and faster. I can't seem to get it to slow down for me. I lose track of what happened when since it all melts into one big long week. The end of last week was also the end of a transfer. It does not feel like I have been here for 7 weeks.

Transfers came as a huge shock. I got a call Friday night from one of the mission STLs asking if I could train a new missionary instead of being a STL. I agreed, but I was pretty sad about it.  I thought I had done something wrong to not be a STL anymore. I talked to our Mission President the next day, and he explained the whole picture. It wasn't what I hadn't done, it was what I had done. He know wants me to be a "free agent", which is basically STL undercover ;) haha. He wants me to use the skills I learned in leadership and go out into mission field to help. I am excited for another new journey :)

I am getting transferred to the El Dorado/Lake Mead stake in Old Henderson. I'm going back to the humble people! ;) My new companion is Sister Greene, and she has been out for one transfer. So I will be finishing up her training. We have one ward, Pueblo (no, I'm not in Spanish. Still English). A lot of changes are going to be coming my way in the morning....but it will be great!

We found a few more people to teach this week. One is from Korea. He speaks very little English, but luckily we have a Sister from Korea serving here. So we exchange with their companionship, and she comes in and teaches the lesson in Korean. It is interesting being the person who doesn't understand anything that is happening. Haha! Also, we noticed that when people think someone can't understand English, they talk slowwwweeerrrr and LOUDER. ;)

We received a referral a few weeks ago from Mormon.org. She had requested a Book of Mormon from the website. We were able to teach her , and it went great! Turns out that she is only 15 years old and has some family that are members of the church. It is so interesting to me when teenagers investigate the church. If I hadn't been born in the church, would I have found it that young? Would I be willing to do it without my family? I have so much respect for the people we teach. It is a hard journey, and usually there some sort of back lash. But the blessings are always worth it!

I love you all and I love the work! Yes, it is hard but I love the blessings that come from it :)

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Reality of Missionary Work

This week has been difficult. We didn't have all that much proselyting time all week long, and our teaching opportunities were lacking. We have definitely been struggling to find new people to teach and people that aren't flaky. It was just a weird week....! And we only have one more week to go in the transfer.....crazy!

So our amazing golden investigator might have dropped us. We had a lesson with her this week, and really had a hard time understanding why we need the priesthood. A lot of the things we teach, her church does too, it's just that they don't have the priesthood/proper authority to do it.We are wondering if she took the time to read the Book of Mormon. The BOM is the physical evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this is Christ's church. If you are struggling in your testimony in any way, read it!!

We were able to find a family that had taken the lessons before! There are five girls, and three are above baptism age. I have never taught a family before!! It's pretty exciting to have them to teach. Their problem is that they have tons of activities that keep them super ooper busy. But they miss having family scripture study and prayer. I really hope that they take the time to relearn the lessons. We aren't sure what stopped them from getting baptized the first time, but we
hope to resolve any concerns that they may have had. I know that a family based on the gospel can never fall. I can't wait to teach them!

The reality of missionary work is that we are on a roller coaster! I have felt like I have been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows on my mission. But that's ok, because that is exactly how life is. Whether you are a full time member or a full time missionary, there will always be ups and downs in the work. All that Heavenly Father cares about is if we are doing our best all the time, not just during the good times. I love the work! I am so happy that I made the decision to serve a mission. It is not easy. But it is worth the time. I love you all!!!!

Love,

Hermana Erickson

A Baptism in Henderson

Hey Everyone! I can't believe that yet another week has passed...what the hey?!? The time has just been on a speeding train it feels like.  For all those greenies out there, enjoy it when the time goes slow....haha :) It will pick up and you will want it to stop! This week was a little bit slower work wise, but we saw some amazing miracles!

SO! We had a baptism!!! YAY :) It was pretty amazing. She wanted it pretty small, but it was filled with the Spirit. Her nonmember family came, and afterwards, her niece said that she felt something different there. She ended up coming to church the next day! Our investigator is a single mom and has two young kids. To think that now her family will grow in the gospel, and more generations as well. You never know the influence that you have.....we can usually only see the direct influences. But I can't wait to get to the Spirit world and meet all of the people that were affected by the little things that we did.

We had a crazy amazing miracle....... :D We had been walking around the ward for most of the morning, and little to nothing was happening. We had talked to a few people, but no one was interested and everyone was busy. We decided to go to a member's house to get some water. We were almost there, when we saw this lady getting her kids out of her car. We went over to start talking to her, and ended up talking for an hour!!! We taught her the whole first lesson outside. When we told her that church was 3 hours, instead of saying
"That's super long...." She surprised us by saying "That's AWESOME!  I've always wanted more church!"  I had to pick my jaw off the ground after that....haha :) We have a lesson with her tonight!

Other miracles: a random lady showed up to church yesterday, we got free nail stickers, and a member bought us amazing ribs :) Great week overall! Thank you for all of the prayers, they are appreciated and needed. I love and miss you all!!!!

Love,

Hermana Erickson

PS Sorry, I can't send a picture of our baptism. Next one!

A year is here!

This week has been really great here in Anthem!! We are starting to
see some of the fruit of our labors. We have been working so hard to
be good examples here and to break some barriers! In each mission,
there are "standards of excellence" which are goals for numbers that
President has decided we need to hit for each week. This area has not
hit standards in who knows how long. And this week, we were able to
hit standards!! Whoop Whoop! (If this doesn't make any sense, just
know that it was exciting for us ;)).

We have two baptisms coming up, one in each ward. One will be this
Saturday. She is so ready and excited! We have already
taught her all of the lessons, so we are just trying to figure out
what to do with her....haha. The sisters found her street contacting,
and she has taken the lessons ever since. She has had a really rough
life....I can't imagine going through the things that she has.

Our other baptism is in two weeks. He was a
referral, and really enjoyed the gospel because of the peace that it
brings. He also is having some really difficult times, so he loves
that he can find happiness through the message that we share. We have
taught him all of the lessons too....haha. The people are just too
prepared for us!! ;) We are trying to find some more people to teach;
we find them but then they drop off the face of the earth. But we have
some with potential!

We went on two exchanges this week. They are great and I love them,
but man they make you exhausted afterwards. I went to another sister's
area with a greenie. I forgot what it was like to be with one--it's
super fun! :) Funny story: we knocked on this potentials door, and a
guy about our age opened the door. I'm used to talking to people our
age (after serving in YSA), but as I turned to let the other sister
talk, she was frozen! She later told me that he was too attractive for
her to make sense of the gospel! Hahaha ;) We did have a really cool
miracle. We tried a referral, but she wasn't home. So we decided to
walk to a different road. But, the sister realized that she didn't
have any passalong cards with her. So we turned around to go back to
the car, and the referral we had tried pulled up! We offered to help
with her groceries, but she declined....but then a bag fell that she
couldn't get. ;) We were able to teach her, and she became a new
investigator!!! The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Can you all believe that I will have been out for a year this coming
Friday?? GAHHH!! It does not feel like it at all. The time has flown
by. I remember my first transfer thinking that 18 months was going to
be an eternity. But now it is almost here. A mission is amazing--it is
the highest of highs and lowest and lows. I have learned so much about
myself and my Savior. I've gained life experiences, knowledge, and
maybe a little bit of weight ;) But it has all been worth it! There is
no sacrifice too great that the Lord asks of us. Yes, you have to give
up money, time, and family, but He compensates for it all in the end.
He gave us His son, who in turn gave us His life. Any sacrifice we
make just helps us to become more like our Savior. And I hope that is
what I have become. I love you all!!

Love,

The fastest week ever!

I cannot believe that it is yet again Pday! The time is just flying by here in Vegas. Not a ton of stuff happened this week. I did leave my childhood behind and turned the big 20! It was weird not having a normal birthday with family and friends. I did enjoy being able to focus on others and I still enjoyed myself. It was a great day and start to our week.

Monday night I got a text from Sister Goddard saying that an investigator from Harmony Hills was getting baptized this Friday! An amazing member volunteered to drive us both to North Las Vegas to see his baptism.  None of his family was there, but his ward family all came to support him. It was so good to see him and everyone again. Sister Goddard and I realized that he was the very first lesson that Sister Goddard
taught on her mission! He is still the happiest kid ever, and loves the gospel. I am so happy that Heavenly Father made a way for him to get baptized.

We were teaching this sweet lady for these past two weeks. She has so much faith and just desires to do God's will. Shewill do anything to please God! Weird situation: she nannies in our area, but lives somewhere else. This week we were finally able to get her address, and she lives in the elders area. We had to pass her off :( She has a date for March 18th and went to church! The elders are super lucky :)

This area has been difficult in finding and teaching. Because we are in the richer part of Las Vegas, people don't always realize that they are lacking something in their lives. We meet wonderful people on the street that love and admire what we do, but don't want what we have. So, my goal this week to be grateful for what we have already and then be ready to do whatever Heavenly Father requires. I'm hoping to develop an "attitude of gratitude" to help me with whatever comes my way. I am optimistic for this week! Love you all!!

Love,

Hermana Erickson

Another week in the life of a misionera

This week has been filled with off-the-wall experiences. Not going to
lie, we've had a lot of people yell at us this week...which is never
fun. But you have to wade through the haystack to find the needle!
That kinda stuff use to really bother me at the beginning of my
mission. But now I've accepted that everyone has their agency, all we
have to do is offer!

We went on two exchanges this week with two different sets of sisters.
We saw a lot of miracles while we were doing that! On one of the
exchanges, we were tracting (knocking every single door on the
street), with no success. No one was answering their door, and it was
feeling a little pointless. Just when I was about to suggest that we
try somewhere else, a young mom opened her door. We shared that her
family could be together forever through our message, and she invited
us in right then! She said she had been praying for spiritual help a
few days ago.....! Pretty amazing :)

I had another great experience on exchanges! We had about 15 minutes
left before it was time to go home, and we had run out of plans. The
sister I was with suggested we inspire knock some doors. We knocked
here and there, but no answer. We then decided on this door, but then
realized that it was already open when we walked up. A dog came to the
door barking, so we were yelling that we were the missionaries. After
they got the dog to calm down, a lady in another room asks if we are
Mormons. All I can think of is "abort! Abort!", but then she says the
only people she invites in is us! She had taken the lessons years ago,
but wasn't able to get baptized. She was still interested, and
accepted to us coming back! :)

We have this amazing investigator. She was street contacted
by other sisters and has taken the gospel whole heartedly. She already
has a strong testimony of the gospel, and can't wait to raise her kids
within the church. Every time we teach her, the spirit is so strong!
It is amazing to see how Heavenly Father prepares people for the
gospel, and how he puts us directly in their path.

So our crazy experiences for the week...... We had no hot water for a
couple of days. Our toilet clogged, we had to move a baptism because
the building was already reserved, and I had to go to urgent care (in
the West Mission) for an inhaler. All of this happened with three
meetings and two exchanges. Hopefully this week will run a little
smoother.....haha.

I am excited for this week and for the things to come in this area. We
have wonderful members here, we just need to tap more into member
missionary work. For those at home, be a member missionary!!!! That is
the only way the work can get done. The members are vital to this
work, and very little progress happens without them. You don't need a
tag to preach the gospel :) I love you all! :D

Love,

Hermana Erickson