Week 15 (7/16/13)

So this week has been really great. I got a new companion her name is Sister Whipple :) She is AWESOME! It's funny though, I didn't think I would miss Sister Andersen as much as I do! But I'll see her again so no worries ;)

Hilight of the week.... I totall fell off my bike.... twice... in one day.... I vowed I would never fall off my bike cuz only weird Sister missionaries do that.... and I totally did. I swear I know how to ride a bike! And I know how to get back on the sidewalk when you go off.... that's how I did it... I caught the curb just at the right angle. It was crazy! Like... I should be more injured than I am. I have no doubt Heavenly Father is protecting me! Sister Whipple was riding behind me... I was right at a busy intersection too hahahaha oh man. It's still funny. Just imagine how a dummy would look falling off a bike. That was it. My elbow didn't catch me, but neither did my hand.. my head was the first thing to hit the ground. THANK GOODNESS FOR HELMETS! WEAR YOUR HELMETS! Haha It was so funny. My shoulder is still pretty sore from it, but nothing else! Sister Whipple and I had to stop riding a couple times cuz we were laughing SO hard! It was hilarious! We are telling everyone about it cuz it was so funny! We laughed with so many people and they didn't even see it ;) then later that night I literally did the same thing. There was a pile of Palm Tree leaves in the middle of the sidewalk so I went off of it and for some reason AGAIN I fell off. Sister Whipple was in the front so she didn't see, but she said that she saw me coming out of the pile. I probably looked pretty heroic. ;) Jokes. Or like a crazy person. That was for sure it. ;) That time I got a good scrape on my elbow ;) but still! It could have been worse! Then on Sunday Sister Whipple fell off her bike. That one was in a neighboorhood and she got really scraped up! She even had gravel in her hand! We didn't laugh at the one... cuz it was way more sad. But I told her it was carma for laughing so hard at me... even though I laughed really hard at myself cuz it was pathetic. The Elders are still laughing at it as well ;)

We also have seen like a million dead things on the ground.... A rabbit, raccoon, turtle, armadillo, snake, frog, lizard.... everything! Being on bike is seriosuly the best hahaha and that's not even a joke.

Cool thing- We got an assignment from President. He picked only a couple Elders and Sister for this. He thought we were obedient so we could do it! We get extra time today to go over the website "Hastening the Work" if you haven't gone on or have seen the brodcast, DO IT NOW. I'm not kidding. It's SO important. So we will be training our members on it and using that website more. He trusts us I guess.... ;) He also asked me if my facebook was appropriate. I was able to say YES! So I will be using facebook soon I guess... hahaha they will have to go over it just to make sure.... but really I'm not sure exactly how that will be working. Everything is slowly getting different. I'm just glad that I am able to be a part of it! President said that in the MTC they said in 20 years we will be astonished and so proud that we were on our missions at this time.

Sorry! I don't have much time! We've just been doing a lot finding so I don't have much to say!

I love you all so much! Don't forget to go to the website!

For all you missionaries..... well... that means everyone ;)

"If we state who we are, representatives of Jesus Christ. They will NEVER forget that."

 -President Cusick

Love- Sister Calder :)

Week 14 (7/8/13)

Well honestly... this week was pretty slow. We didn't get to meet with hardly anyone and with the holidays no one is home and no one wants to talk to us. We had a fun 4th of July with the Elders. We went to a parade, which some people thought we were a part of.... hahaha they kept asking us who we were with and we would yell, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! It was pretty hilarious ;) We went and got this YUMMY thing called Gelati at a place called Rico's! Which is where Lazero who was on American Idol worked. They even had a creepy pic of him on the wall. It was so good. And the closest thing to a snow cone that I've had here, so I'm not complainin' haha. We did some other things, mainly played this new game we made up with a small ball and hymn books. That was pretty much the best. Then most of our zone met up at Olive Garden for dinner. That was pretty fun. Especially cuz we went with our recent convert who is going through the temple on Saturday.

I AM STAYING. Sister Andersen is getting transfered to Brooksville which is the most North you can go without leaving the mission. She went from the most North, to the most South. Crazy right? I have heard that my new comp Sister Whipple is AWESOME. She was in the MTC with Elder Chamberlin and was Sister Larrabee's comp in the MTC. They both love her. I am so sad to be leaving Sister Andersen, but I'm excited for the change!

We met our new mission president on Friday. He and his wife are so young! It's crazy! Their 15 year old daughter reminds me of Katelyn and her name is Kate! I am pretty much best friends with her now ;) They have been so strong and faithful in leaving everything and answering to the call of the Lord. It's amazing! I know they are going to be great! But we miss President and Sister Summerhayes so much already! President sure left his mark though. Our whole zone is changing. There is only 2 companionships that they aren't making changes too and that's because they just came out last transfer. Everything else is getting switched up a lot. We are excited though!

Also- I dissected a lizard. I have a 10 minute video of it. Actually- I dissected 2. It was pretty dope. The Elder caught them for me and then put them in their freezer. I bought an exacto knife and I ripped them open. That is probably way too much TMI I know.... but it was pretty fun. Plus those lizards are EVERYWHERE! They are literally like flies in Utah.... actually there are probably more lizards than that. So no judging ;) haha. I thought I would give you something exciting to ready since this week has been really slow.

Last night we planked everywhere. That was pretty fun.

Tonight we are having an oreo party....

We haven't been able to get a hold of Dawn. Her phones aren't working.She's still up in the homeless shelter, but we know she still wants to get baptized.

Michella moved back to Utah so we are hoping to get an email from her soon of her in white :)
Amy is in Utah this week so we haven't been able to meet with her either.

It's been kind of crazy as you can tell.

Remember that 11 year old girl? Well, we got to talk to her! She's still interested, but we have her moms number now we are going to call her and get some things worked out so she can come to church!

We got caught in a huge rain storm.... ok actually.... that happens every single day haha.

I went on exchanges on Tuesday and took over the area for a day. That was pretty fun!

I'm loving getting letters from all of you. But again, I always write right back so it could have gotten lost on the way to you or me :( let me know if that happnes cuz I don't want to lose contact with anyone!

I love you all so much!

OH!

And I wanted to tell everyone how proud I am of my Sister Ashley. I got to watch the video of her opening her call cuz I was at a members house and my mom was able to send it to her. It was amazing. I cannot even tell you how excited I have been this whole week. I'm telling everyone about my amazing Sister who has decided to serve a mission! I love her so much and am so proud to call her my sister! The Phillippines! They are going to LOVE HER! But probably not as much as I love her :)

 

Thank you all for your support and prayers! They are needed and I can feel them!

 

Love, Sister Calder

Week 13 (7/1/13)

Sorry this one will be short. I run out of time when I am emailing people back and forth :)

This week we had a district meeting where we did a thing called "I love you because" one missionary goes up there and goes around and tells each missionary why they love them. I thought it would be weird. But it was so cool! It was very spiritual and build my confidence more than I thought! People told me how they loved that I laughed a lot and that I made everything fun. They said I am not afraid to be myself, but I recognize that I am a representative of Jesus Christ. I loved it! Plus I have come to realize that I remind a lot of the Elders of their sisters... I guess I really don't act my age haha ;)

On Tuesday we had a huge strom. There was about 8 inches of water on the ground and I was the only one who could drive! It was freaky! The Elders said that is what a hurricane is like. So now we are prepared :) Heavenly Father is watching over us that's for sure!

Michella is moving back to Utah but we taught her all the lessons so she is ready to be baptized! We love her so much and can't wait for her to become a memeber of this amazing church! We are still working with her parents, but they say the more they see, the more they love about our church :)

We have a new investigator named Amy. She was a referal from mormon.org. She is AMAZING! We serisouly love her!!!!!!! She is so ready and prepared and we haven't even taught her the first lesson!

We made s'mores over our stove with stuff my mom sent me.

We found cotton candy ice cream (sooooo gooooooodddd!!!)

We eat fresh mangos and coconuts like they are going out of style!

I tried yummy Haitian bread! It's just like layers and layers of bread. It's so thick and yummy!

I got my first violation on the tiwi (we are like the only mission to have these great things in our car that record our driving. I got an RPM violation..... the car goes pretty fast....)

Dawn had surgery but is doing really good! She showed up to church on Sunday! She rode a bus from a place that is an hour away just to be at church! We might have to hand her over to other Elders, but we will see. She's ready to be baptized!

It's amazing how much the members have been helping since that broadcast! Our meal calender is FULL and more and more people want to come out with us. Sunday was focused all on missionary work. The 3 Elders in our ward spoke and the 3rd hour was the bishop talking about how they can help us. We love it! It's amazing what happnes when member and missionaries work together because we are all doing the same work! We are basically just here to help the members. :)

"We are making history." Don't miss it guys :) this is a once and a lifetime opportuity. Grab it while you can!!! Missionary work is the greatest thing in the world! Don't be afraid to share what you love with those you love!

"An invitation that is born of love for one another and love for our Savior will never come off as offensive."

"It's His work. If we do our best we CANNOT fail"

"Help is always there if we have faith"

"There is no line when it comes to preaching the gospel to every creature. Whether they have never heard it- or whether they have heard and forgotten."

I love that last one by Elder Nelson. It's so true. We need to focus on the members that may be falling, and then we will be blessed with new ones :)

I love you all so much! Keep up the good work! Don't forget to always be a missionary!!!! :) Write or email me if you need help with ways to share the gospel or if you are afraid. I'm here to help!

Love- Sister Calder :)

OH! And just to let you know I always write people back in 1-2 days. So if I haven't written you back please don't think I hate you. I either didn't get it, or it got lost in the mail. I love you again! Thanks for you letters by the way! :)

Week 12 (6/25/13)

So I would first off like to point out... for those of you who were watching the brodcast, and for everyone who wasn't either... the the Florida Tampa mission is THE BEST MISSION IN THE WORLD. I have been trying to tell you, but now you all have proof. Elder Anderson said it himself... I'm pretty sure. I saw some people I know on there. :) I even saw my sweet mission president and his wife who are leaving next week :( BUT! Like I said, it is very clear what the best mission is. ;) haha and I have already set aside that the second best mission will be Sister Calder #3's (Ash's) mission :)

The brodcast was AMAZING! We all had our guesses on what it was going to be about. We really thought it would be member missionary work... and ipads. Our other guess was that they were gonig to make every mission a service mission (which would be the BEST). But it was about memeber missionary work! It was SO good! I loved seeing all those missionaries in the MTC. They are always telling us that this is such an exciting time to be on a mission! I truly believe and know that! I am in the middle of this happiness!!!! I am loving every single second of it!!!!

So Dawn didn't get baptized... she had to move like an hour away. But once she can get back into a homeless shelter down here she will get baptized :)

On Tuesday I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. We had a conference cuz my mission president was leaving. It was a zone conference, so it wasn't everyone. We did a musical number (Love is Spoken Here) I played the piano for it. It was so beautiful. Everyone was fighting back tears afterwords. We had tons of departing testimonies that made me tear up as well. Our mission president showed us a video. I wish I could youtube it cuz I really want you all to see it. It's about a man who was running a 400 meter dash. He was expected to win. He tore his hamstring in the middle of the race and fell to the ground. He didn't want to give up so he started hopping to the finish line. A man broke through security, it was his dad. He ran next to him and helped him the rest of the way. At the end he let him finish the race by himself. Of course. We were all balling and it doesn't help that it had Josh Groban you raise me up playing in the background. Oh man. Then he read us a quote that I loved- "All you have to do to finish the race is rise each time you fall." and he also said- "If you never give up, you can never fail." SO TRUE RIGHT! I love it!!!!! I cried a lot.

But here is what really got everyone. Our closing song for the meeting was God be with you till we meet again. We all started to stand as we sang it. It was already hard to fight back tears, but the last verse the Haitianaries started singing it in Haitian Creloe and the Spanish missionaires joined. I couldn't even sing! The spirit was SO strong I literally cannot even describle it. If you can only imagine this... all the Elders and Sister with tears running down their face in complete love for our missinon president. That's really what gets the spirit so strong... pure love. That's really what it was. We love them so much! I said the closing prayer and I still don't remember what I said and we all just cried together. 

In our mission to say thank you to people we sing Love one Another. It's our mission presidents favorite song. So when someone does something nice for us we all sing that song to them. As President and Sister Summerhays walked out we all stood in silence and then sang, without even planning it before hand, Love one Another. We all cried as we walked out the door hugging Sister Summerhays and shaking Presidents hand. It was a moment that I will never forget :)

Really nothing else is worth saying after that! I love you all so much! Thank you for everything you do for me! I cannot even tell you how much I appreciate all of you!

I love you!
Love, Sister Calder

 

WAIT! The one peice of advice that my mission president has give us is-

"GET THE SPIRIT, AND KEEP IT"

Don't you forget it :) that the best life advice right there ;)

Week 8 (5/28/13)

Well this one is probably going to be short again :)

 

This week was pretty awesome. We went to a wedding on Friday. It was a recent convert and someone Sister Andersen knew was going to be there. We got invited and needed a ride cuz we are on bike so the Elders drove us. The trio forwarded the message to us about the wedding cuz that used to be Sister Andersens phone so the groom invited them as well. Then the Naples Sisters felt left out so they came too. It was pretty awesome and they were totally cool with it. The couple was cute. It was on the beach, but not all the way so we could go. We now know why we can't go on the beach.... it's not good for the Elders.... or the Sisters really. But it was so much fun.

We had transfers this past week. Everyone thought that I would be training after 6 weeks. I was totally willing and ready to do it. I thought I would learn a lot if I did. But, Sister Andersen didn't get transfered so I'm still with her :) but it's good cuz then I can learn even more from her :)

One of the Sisters went home. Me and her cried a lot together. I have become so close with her. She makes me feel like I can be myself and I can talk to her about anything. She's just like Sister Lee ;) She got hurt abgout 11 weeks ago and still isn't healing. She's going home to get a scope and to heal a little bit. Then they will know if she needs surgery or not. She's coming back though sooner or later thank goodness! Not to the same area... but I will see her every once in a while :)

P-days are the greatest. We basically just laugh the whole time. I could sit and explain to you all the funny things that go on... but it wouldn't make sense. :) Let's just say I convinced everyone that pickles and Nutella are good (which they really are!!!!!!) and they all ate it. Most everyone liked it :) I love our zone! Too bad that was our last p-day together :( Everyone has some change going on except the Spanish Sisters and Sister Andersen and I.

We taught the first lesson to Dawn. I recited the first vision and cried a lot. She said it peirced her soul. She believe that it is the true church.... someone is holding her back though. But we just contine to pray and we know that everything will work out in time. :)

Sister Andersen and I laugh a lot :) missions really are the funnest thing ever. Elder Anderson was right when he said it should be mission FUN cuz it totally is :)

I have learned a lot about having a personal relationship with my Heavenly Father. We pray so much. I love it :) I feel like every day I come closer to my Father in Heaven and I can listen to the spirit better and I can find who I need to find and say what I need to say.

 

"If we exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the enabling power of his Atonement strengthens us in our momemnt of need."

-Elder Cardon GC April 2013

 

Mom- this quote reminded me of you :)

 

"How you love and honor her father, his priesthood, and his divine role will be reflected and perhaps amplified in your daughter's attitudes and behavior."

-Sister Dalton GC April 2013

 

Because it was memorial day I was reminded of dad. This has nothing to do with the quote but I could just see everyone in our family huddled around the graves of grandpa and dad and eating food. We celebrate the lives of the people we love becuase we have the firm knowledge that we will see them again. That's why I'm here. To share that amazing message with others. :)

 

I love you all so much! :) Don't forget about me please :)

 

Love, Sister Calder

Mom- Elder Langi is a football player for the U. Sister Miles and I tricked him by telling him that we were going to write our names on his shirt and we did a big Y instead ;) some of my cousins might actually know who he is. He also likes my sunglasses..... his first name is Haveais. I think he was a reciever or something. But you should ask people if they know him ;)

Too bad he got transfered. He's pretty much the best haha

Week 7 (5/20/13)

This week has been slow. We had appointments and all of them fell through. We are stuggling to find people and have done a lot of tracting. I went on an exchange with our Sister Training leader (who we used to live with) and I loved every second of it! I learned more from her in one day than I have since being out in the field. I felt like a real missionary for a day. I really don't know what that means. But it felt really good. Now I am working on those things she taught me with my comp and everything has been a lot better! I even learned some Spanish! They have an English class that they teach and I was able to sit in on it. The Spanish brothers would say something in English then Sister Hill would make me say it in Spanish. They all laughed really hard at me. Let's just say- I'm very white :) it didn't help that that day I got SUPER sunburned! But I did learn how to say that I don't speak spanish but we have sister missionaries who do speak spanish, can we send them over? So when we are tracting and come into a Spanish family we can send these sisters over. I'm pretty excited about it :)

We learned at lot about working with memebers in our zone conference on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun, and very interesting. They really want us to focus on memebers, and member referrals. So that's what we have been working on lately :)

On Saturday we went to the Hatianaries baptism. It was an amazing experience. We got there late because they were delivering a couch to our house. But we came in while they were playing prelude (I was asked to play, but I had another sister do it becuase I knew we would be late. I am so grateful for her!!!!:)) and the woman that got baptized came in waving her hands and said with a huge bright smile on her face- "I'm so happy!" I couldn't help but cry. That is what this gospel is. Pure joy. Even now I get emotional writing about it. That is how we should always feel. So happy about the gospel that we cannot even contain ourselves. That's why I'm here. I am so happy about the gospel that I cannot even hold it in any longer. I have to share it with everyone! :)

 

Helamen 5:11

We are those angels. The Hope of Israel. :)

I can't even explain to you how much happiness I feel to be a member of our Heavenly Fathers army.

 

"As we give devoted service to Him, He draws closer to those we love in our families."

-Presdient Eyring April 2013 General Conference

 

I thought that quote would give hope to those of you who are struggling with your children or family members who have fallen away. I have a firm testimony that if we trust in the Lord, and serve him with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength that everything will be made right in the end. I can promise you that as a representative of Jesus Christ. :)

 

I love you all to infinity and beyond :)

 

Love, Sister Calder

Week 6 (5/13/13)

This week has been cray-cray to say the least. 

We moved into our new apartment on Wednesday. So Tuesday was mainly spent packing and cleaning. Sister Andersen has more stuff from her 6 month mission than I did in my house for 10 years. It was very frustrating... but I found my favorite shirt of ALL TIME in our graveyard. So I'm trying to be ok with it. ;) 

It's weird being called Nicole. I've only been out a month... imagine how it is going to be in a year and a half! 

We had a cool experience with 3 prayers being answered in one day. I can't tell you how much my testimony of prayer has changed!

On Wednesday we met with an investigator. His wife was baptized 1 year ago and he just hasn't come along. He's had all the lessons, but doesn't think he should stop drinking coffee. He made that very apparent. We tried our best in the lesson not to argue, and to just answer his questions and bear testimony, but it was a rough go. I went home very discouraged thinking that not everyone is ready and we should just give up. Advice- never think that. It's not a good idea. But I had been praying like a crazy person that his heart would be softened. 

The next morning we get a text from his wife telling us that he said he would try drinking less coffee for her. And that if she wanted to go to the temple, he would take her there. I can't tell you how amazing this is. He is very stubborn and was not having any of that the day before. It was such a huge blessing! We screamed when we got the text and we were beaming the rest of the day. We knew it was an answer to our prayers and his wife's prayers.
Later that day we decided that we were going to visit one of our other investigators in the hospital. She was the one that just walked right into church. We hadn't been able to get a hold of her, and were feeling really discouraged about the whole thing. But then we got a call from her from the hospital explaining everything. She had been wanting to learn more but with all the hospital stuff she couldn't get a hold of us until then. So we biked 10 miles in the middle of the day (we were determined to see her) to the hospital.
We couldn't find exactly where we were supposed to go once we got there so we stopped at a desk to ask someone. The lady was very nice in giving us directions. After we were done visiting our investigator we needed to fill up our water bottles so we went back to that same place we had asked for directions. As we were walking in we asked that same lady if there was a place we could fill up our water bottles, she said yes and then immediately after said, "I think you are the Sisters that are teaching my daughter Gracie." We both looked at each other and started freaking out saying telling her that we were. We had been praying to get in contact with Sister Hilton for weeks so that her daughter could come to church. The father wasn't ok with us teaching her after 2 lessons but Gracie wanted to come to church to learn more.
We found Gracie when we were visiting part member families (I can't remember if I have told you about her). Her mom was a member when she was young, so she knew about our church. But we couldn't call Sister Hilton because she didn't want her husband to get mad. So we prayed that she would call us so her daughter could finally come to church. Seeing her there was an answer to our many prayers. It was such an amazing experience! She is going to start bringing Gracie to church because she begs for it every week. We are still beaming from the experience and can't wait to start teaching her more. :) 

The last experience of the day was a woman who the Elders have taught all the lessons to, but now that she is in our area (we switched with the Elders when I got here) We had been praying that she would set a date and know that she needed to be baptized. She had never been overly excited about it, but she teaches her 3 year old son about the stories in the scriptures and he loves it! So we had been praying for her. We met with her and she was just glowing. We asked her about the date and she was so excited. We still aren't firm on it yet because she has to check and make sure her boyfriend (who is actually a member... he's usually at the lessons, but he couldn't make it there this time) would be off of work that day. Also, beach baptism might be in the picture ;) but she was even talking about the temple! She was asking things like when can she go to the temple and what she would have to do for that. It was so amazing. We couldn't stop smiling that night. That was the best day of my mission so far, and I know that I'm never going to forget it :)

We have been doing service projects about twice a week for 4 hours. Someone recent converts in the Naples Ward (the ward right next to us, but it used to be our ward until they split it right before I came out) is doing habitat for humanity and the mother is pregnant so they asked the missionaries if they could help. They need 500 hours to get a house and it's just the two of them. So when you combine all the missionaries (there are usually 16 of us that come) times that by 4 and then that by 2 that's how many hours we can do for them in one week. We love doing it! We have painted the inside and outside of houses, laid sod, put sticky stuff on the floor, done molding things. We love doing it. This week it was funny because we got there late and all the missionaries were cleaning off all the paint stuff. The guy in charge told us they painted the outside of the house the wrong color. Luckily they had only done half of it. So we took a break to let it dry and then came back and started paining again. We thought it was the wrong color after we had painted about a 1/4 of it. So we asked the guy and he just said to paint it over with this other paint. Turns out it was the same paint, we were just painting it all over again with the same color... lots of paint and time because we are a little clueless ;) it was super fun though!  

On my mission so far one thing that I have learned is that I need to rely on others. We always are needing rides and food, and help with things. I have never been the kind of person that likes to ask others for help... but my mom always taught me that it is ok to ask for help from other people. So that's something I have been trying to be better about. I think all of us have to remember that. We need to let other people serve us. We can't deny them those blessings. We are here to help others and learn from each other :)

I love you all so much! I hope you had an amazing mothers day!

"Be a beacon to the whole world!" 

-Elder Perry

I'm loving the letters! Keep them coming :) they help me more than you can even imagine!

Moroni 7:31 (this is not just a missionaries calling) ;)

Love, Sister Calder:)

Week 4 (4/29/13)

I cannot believe that I have already almost been on my mission for a month. The time has flown, but also gone super slow. I don't know how to explain it... but all of you that have been on missions know what I am talking about.

I have a lot of random stuff to say, so this might be intersting.

I get to play the piano... a lot. I'm super grateful for my not-so musical ability... but I'm glad that I can help out. I am even doing a musical number with an Elder from our Zone! It's pretty awesome!

I forgot to tell you when we went through training the first week they gave us gator training. That was interesting. They told us if we feed a Gator we go home... I really wanted to feed one... but oh well.

I will be sending a once in a lifetime picture to all of you... meeeeee..... holding a snake. It's a miricle. We went to see gators on our pday and on our way home one of the elders had to go to the bathroom so we stopped at this gift shop place. We were talking to the owner and asked if he knew about our church, he said that he didn't really but remember that during a hurricane we were giving out toothbrushes. So because of that he let us in the back where they had TONS of disgusting animals. We got to hold a gator, hold a 200 pound disgusting snake, and hold and play with birds and stuff! It usually costs a bunch but he let all of us do it for free! Pictures to come! It was such a fun time!!!!

A skill I developed in the MTC that I have carried on here.... sleeping wherever... whenever. I seriously fall asleep in the weirdest places. 8 hours is not enough when you are doing stuff for the rest of the day! But it makes for good nights sleep :)

I was reading an Ensign article and one story was about a missionary who was discouraged. He missed his family. Then he looked at his name tag and realized that he had not only his name, but his families name, and most importantly Jesus Christs name. He said that we need to act a way that would be pleasing to them because we are representing all of those people. It's that amazing! I loved it.

I was on a rain streak. It rained every single day that I had been in Florida... then it stopped on Tuesday. It was sad. Anyways...

If you are confused why everyone is getting letters right away our mission president has said that we can write our families and friends every single day after 9:30 because that is our time. So don't think I'm naugty. ;)

I have come to love and respect the priesthood more since I have been here. It's amazing too see Elders worthily use their priesthood for good :)

Going along with that... we were visiting part member families and come to a house. Her mom was the member once upon a time and so her daughter knew nothing about our church. We have been teaching her and she loves all of it! We were teaching her about the priesthood and told her it was the power to act in God's name she said, with confidence, "so it's a SUPERPOWER!" It was the cutest thing so now Sister Andersen and I call it that :) it's been amazing to see how close children are to the spirit and to see that they remember the things we are telling them! 

Yesterday we had an investigator just walk into our church. She said that she saw a church and believes in God so she came in. I truly belive she was lead to us! She stayed for all 3 meetings and was writing a bunch of stuff down that we explained to her and was reading from the Book of Mormon. Her faith is strong, we are meeting with her tonight and can't wait to share more about our gospel! Plus, the topic of Sacrament meeting just happened to be the restoration! And we talked about Priesthood in Sunday school and blessings in Relief Socity! We can't wait!

So on Wednesday... or some day... all of the days go together... we did service and laid sod for Habitat for Humanities. It was super fun! The only thing..... the red ants here are EVIL!!!!!! SUPER EVIL! They bite and it feels like a bee sting times 20! Then they left these blister things all over our hands and arms. Good thing the smart Elders who have been here almost 2 years gave us some stuff to put on them. They looked like big nasty puffy zits all over!

Anyways...

wecanputt.blogspot.com is our mission presidents wife's blog. Check it out! I think there are pics on there! :)

I have learned to close my mouth when I bike. They like bugs here.

The crickets sound like an alarm. The first night we were driving and I was like what the!? So I opened the window and I thought the gas station was being robbed. My companion laughed and said those were crickets. It took me a while to believe her....

I have almost been hit by 2 cars.... I'm not even going into detail, but we were being safe. That's all I'm gonna say. Heavenly Father is protecting me!

We are not aloud to listen to music here yet I have heard Stayin' Alive twice. It doesn't make sense I know....

I love you all so much! I am loving it here more than ever! Every day I become more confident in this work!

D&C 123:17

Love, Sister Calder

Week 3 (4/22/13)

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the birthday wishes!! It was fun to be here for my birthday, but a lot different. 

We left in snow on Monday. It was heavy snow as I'm sure you all woke up to on the ground. I thought it was amazing and totally awesome, others did not. Hahaha optimistic attitude comes in handy a lot of the time. :) 

The plane ride was great. We had a lay over in Atlanta and I was tempted to go run the streets looking for Elder Miller.... that was our reality check though. We went to get some food and all people would do was stare at our name tags. It really scared us. One woman almost ran into the person in front of her she was staring so hard. We were treated differently. Not in a bad way, but just really really different. It was really hard for me. I almost just wanted to cover my name tag and lose the skirt. But I am a representative of Jesus Christ, and I do not take the lightly. I always said that I wanted to have a sign on me and said I'M A MORMON. Now I do, and it's not what you would expect. Or, it probably is because ya'll are much smarter than me (did you see that? I used that word again...). 

Ok... I'm going to fast again.
For Relief Society on Sunday we had a speaker. FMary Edmunds. Look her up. She is Carrie Neal EXACTLY! It was almost creepy. Slap 30 years on her and they are twins. Now you all know that is a really good thing because we love Sister Neal so much. You can imagine how spiritual and entertaining it was.

One of the things she said was- 

(while holding up her super large missionary journal with tears in her eyes) "Think of how many people and experiences you will miss." That hit me hard. If you are called to serve and you don't fufil that duty to the best of your ability, you may miss people. That is on your head. If they don't hear the gospel from you, who are they going to hear it from?

She also said- 

"If you've thought about going home do what President Uchtdorf said and STOP IT!"

"You will NEVER regret this mission if you put your heart into it."

I wish you could look it up somehow. It was just amazing. 

For music and the spoken word they played A Sound of Music song. I thought of you mom and Kathryn :)

On Sunday we left. We cried for a long time when we had to say goodbye to our Elders. A handshake is just not enough when you come to love these amazing Elders so much. They gave us beautiful blessings and we all just sat and talked. It really was heart breaking. Sister Lee and I cried for a while.

Oh Sister Lee. I miss her so much I cannot even explain it. :(

Also- doesn't Sister Lee look like Sister Kingman? You know she does.

This word is WAY too small I've decided. I don't even think I have time to go over all of the coincidences that I have found already here.

After our first night at the mission home we had a huge long meeting. At the end of those meetings we got to meet our companion. It's very dramatic and special. It's almost like a reaping. They call your soon to be companions name (but you have no idea) then everyone waits in anticipation and they call your name. Dramatic. I know. The Elders hug and I swear they get hand prints on their backs. The Sister Smile and Giggle. Hunger Games, but happy.

Everyone knows Jordan! I can't tell you how many good things I have heard. Someone needs to tell him, someone tell Danny to tell him. Then someone watch as Danny does it because he probably won't. They love Jordan here ;)

I rode a bike with a skirt on for the first time. That was interesting. I did it though! 

My 3rd day actually in Florida we went to a members house for dinner. She is one of the coolest people I have ever met. Her conversion story will blow your mind! I don't have time for it though! I started off meeting people in the right house!!

I am serving in Naples. I forgot to mention. It is as far South as you can get in our mission. My first day was different. We drove for 3 hours with the bishops wife to get to our area.

Everything is messed up right now. We aren't even living in our area and since they just split it all up we are opening a new area. It's been hard and messy work. I haven't even tracted yet because we have so much work to do.

I'm loving it here though! It's amazing the love that you can feel towards people you don't even know yet!

I don't like being 20. It's way too old. Hopefully I'll get over it by the time I turn 21.

My companion made me cupcakes and we had district meeting so everyone sang to me. It was pretty awesome :) 

I still feel like I have so much to say!

A few more things-
They had a speed limit that was 19... weird

EVERYONE HAS DOGS! You could even say everyone and their dog has a dog. That would work. 

We have gotten Lemonade with every meal! 

My milk in my cereal goes lukewarm before I'm done with it.
I saw my first cockroach. 

Got my first bug bite.
Got my first sunburn (I was outside for literally 5minutes) 

And it's HOT and BEAUTIFUL here!

I love you all!

Sister Calder