Week 32 (11/12/13)

Hey guys! So.... I feel really self conscious writing these emails now cuz I guess people actually read them! Gah. Weird. Soooo if this seems awkward you'll know why hahaha.

Okay. Jokes.

Awkward is my specialty.

I LOVE MY NEW COMP! Have I said that? Sister Beck is her name and she ROCKS! Oh man. She is EXACTLY what I needed and an answer to my many prayers!

Cool thing. So as of today the Book of Mormon play is in Tampa. We had to read this whole big long thing on how to talk to people about it. I've already had a few people talk to us about it, so that paper kind of trained us on how to best deal with it. Crazy right!?

Our mission president created this new thing called traveling zone leaders. They are a companionship that travel around the whole mission the whole transfer and go on exchanges every single day. Crazy eh? They are trying it out, but it seems to be going super well!

This week was AMAZING! I still cannot believe how much work we got done and how much fun we had doing it! We are still working on To the Rescue that President Monson put out a few months ago and it has been great! We haven't had one Less Active yell at us! It's awesome. :)

We got a headquarter referral last Monday. We visited her. She came to the door crying because we were there. She said she wanted us to pray for her because her husband had just died and she was having a hard time. We told her we would. We comforted her for a while and gave her a Book of Mormon. She's been reading it and loves it! But anyways.... then we hugged her and sang to her. Sister Beck likes to sing... and I do haha but you know I am no good. But she loves to do it, so we've been singing to a lot of people and it's brought the spirit so strong! Heavenly Father for sure helps me so that I don't sound too much like a frog :) it's made a couple people cry! It's crazy I think I said this in my last email, but it's crazy to see all the people who are dealing with death out here and how I can interact and empathize with them. It's been such a blessing to be able to do it. I know FOR SURE that you go EXACTLY where you are supposed to. There is no doubt about that!

We got another referral from other missionaries... it was crazy. We were trying to decide what to say when we got to the door.... like introduce ourselves and say who sent us or just act like we were tracting or what. But we ended up not knowing and nothing was coming to us. She opened the door and yelled at us telling us how wrong we were and we didn't even get to say anything. Crazy eh? It was pretty awesome to see the spirit work in that way.

I love everyone here so much. That's the secret to missionary work. If you love everyone and are obedient, you will go so far. Christ-like love is something I pray for every single day, and it helps me so much!

Everyone here in polk county is related. That's all I have to say. It's very freaky.

We just went fishing with Ernie. We caught a turtle and saw some Gators... and wore mustaches. That's all ;)

I love this work more than anything else! Sorry this doesn't have too much spiritual-ness stuff. There's a LOT of that going on here!

I love you all so much! Keep doing what you know is right!

Love, Sister Calder :)

Week 20 (8/19/13)

First I would like to say this freaks me out.... I have really just been realizing how many people actually read this. So. Much. Pressure. So... I kind of forgot what went on this week cuz I didn't write it down before I came here! It's been pretty slow. Week 6 ya know... but I'm staying Naples for 4 more weeks! This transfer is only 4 weeks cuz we need to line up with the Haitian missionaries coming from the MTC. We are pretty excited!

We found a turtle shell. We made a pinky promise that we would pick up the next turtle that we found on the side of the road. We always take pictures but never pick them up. There are these things called snapping turtles that look.... really freaky. Like a mix of a dinosaur and alligator mushed into a turtle. So... you have to polk them with a stick to make sure they aren't one of those or we could lose a finger or something. So we poked it... and there was nothing in there! It was awesome... and so stinky. Good thing we were heading home for the night so Sister Whipple just held it while we barfed cuz of the stench. Then we put in on our lani (Ok.... what the. How do you spell that word!?)..... the screen door thing on our back porch. Then we boild some water and put it in a bucket. Hopefully that helped... we haven't checked on it yet....

 

Oh! We went to a Cathoic mass on Saturday! Michella's parents invited us! It was pretty interesting. We learned A LOT and already that knowledge from that has helped us connect better with people and teach people since there are lots of cathoics here. And it really helped me know better for myself that this is the true church. Honesly. I didn't have any doubts before, but now I really don't have any! We were so glad they invited us and everyone was so nice there. We are planning on going to a baptist church soon. It really was such a neat experience! Then Michelle and her dad came to church on Sunday! She is all set for being baptized on Friday and we couldn't be more excited for her! We had a crazy Saturday with the mass and then 2 baptisms in our ward! But it was so much fun!

 

You know how they say lock your heart? Well, Sister Miles gave me a real key to my heart! It's so awsome!!!!! Now it's locked for sure!

 

Eternal Families. That's what it's all about :) I love my family so much and am SO grateful for them in my life! I love sharing this message with other people! This is the best time of my life! I wouldn't trade it for anything! I love you all! Thanks for your letter of support and encouragment!

Never forget to stand for what you know to be true!

 

I love you!

Love, Sister Calder

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 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 5 (5/6/13)

My new address-

7779 Jewel Lane #101

Naples, FL 34109

 

If you have sent a letter to the other address in the past couple days don't worry about it. Some awesome Elders from our district are moving in so they can give me the mail.

 

Thanks again everyone for your prayers. They are much needed and I can feel them. :)

This last P-day we had the 4th injury of our zone.... Elder Shank twisted his anckle... let's just say I'm pretty hesitant to play sports with them at the moment... it's just so fun!

 

Aunt Diane- your first aid kit came in handy for Elder Shank ;) and also for another Sister :) luckly all I have needed out of it was a bandaid :)

 

We had a Sisters Conference on Tuesday! I got to see Sister Lee which pretty much made my week! I love her so much! It was funny to see all the Sisters legs though... it looks like we have a plague going around with all the ugly bug bites on our legs! So there are officially Sister Training Leaders in the field! They are kind of like zone leaders, but for sisters and they cover bigger areas :) Sister Bench and Sister Hill are the very first ones for a couple zones in our mission! :)

 

Wednesday was hard. We fasted all day for my mom. That was the day I have felt the most homesick so far. I know that because I was fasting Heavenly Father gave me strength to be calm and have peace. I don't know what I would have done without that peace. But that morning our bishop gave us a blessing. My comp and I and the Elders that are also in our ward. It was just to help us with the new area and everything. It was so powerful. He promised me that I would see one of my investigators get sealed in the temple with their family. I can't tell you how motivated that made me. It was a very specific and powerful promise. He also told me that my mission would help me be a mother in zion. It was such an amazing blessing that I needed so much at that time.

 

I had my first weird moment... one morning Sister Bench and I (she came out the same time as me) went outside and we were like- "OH! It's COLD!" We look at the thermometer on our car... it was only 69 degrees... this is going to be bad when I come home.

 

Remember that investigator that just came to church last week? Well, she wasn't answering our... many phone calls (Sister Andersen and I decided that missionaries are creepy stalkers....) so we went to her house. Right as we pulled up I had the feeling to not knock on the front door. I thought it was just nerves, but both of us looked at each other and said that we shouldn't go in. So, of course we followed that and didn't. We have no idea what would have happened. But I am so grateful for those very small promptings that we get from the spirit. I still cannot believe how small it was. But because we have been focusing and praying on having the spirit and listening to it we could feel that :) it was pretty amazing.

 

On Friday it was exactly one month that I've been a missionary! I celebrated by of course... taking 3 showers in a day (I'm not kidding) one after our workout, one after a serivice project, and then one after biking. It was a very eventful day.

 

Saturday I had my first door slam while tracting. That was fun... then we found this turtle in the middle of the road! Pics will come. I don't have enough time right now.

 

I have 18 bug bites on my legs... they will not be pretty when i come home that's for sure.

Everyone uses their car horns here...

There are tons of lakes. I'm pretty sure the whole state is going to collapse soon.

 

As my dad said in his mission journal- "This is true happiness, and nothing replaces this."

 

I totally believe that more than anything! Bringing someone to the gospel is TRUE HAPPINESS! 

I love you all! Sorry this one was short! :)

 

Happy Mothers day to all you moms out there! :)