Love you all!

Soooo this week has been great. We got to see our investigators (the family) and they are still on date for Dec. 12. PLEASE pray for them! They need the gospel so much. It's seriously the best thing ever. I never realized how grateful I am for it, or how much I love the gospel until I came on a mission. Seriously, it's the best!

Also, We had an amazing miracle! The missionaries around the area I serve in decided to have a movie night and invite people to come watch Meet the Mormons (I highly recommend it! It's awesome) and we didn't think we'd have anyone show up. Because NOONE could come. BUT THEN we prayed really hard and right as we pulled up, a sister in our ward (Sister Pfeil) and her non mormon friend, Shirley, showed up!!! And they loved it. It was such a tender mercy and a miracle. We were so happy!

Anyway, the work rolls on slowly but surely! Love you all! 

Also...we had 3 thanksgiving dinners (plus two thanksgiving lunches!) we were so stuffed, and let me just tell you I am SO grateful for stretchy skirts :P

BUT..I am so grateful for those who fed us. It was such an uplifting day and full of fun memories and people!

Sister Kramer

LAST WEEK...

Hey there lovely family and friends,

Boy this week has been a roller coaster and a huge mess of emotion! I seriously am so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it's gonna be SO weird not being home with everyone. THEN I also have transfers coming up super soon, and I have NO CLUE what's happening. AND I have such huge mixed emotions about leaving. Cause I totally love this area. Like, so much. Silverdale is so gorgeous and amazing. I love the members and our investigators (no matter how flaky they may be...but I digress) with all my heart and soul and it would kill me to say goodbye. However....getting to see more of the mission would be so awesome and I know that I would have an amazing time wherever I go. So, I have no idea how to feel!

BUT as I have been focusing on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I realized how fitting it is to be able to focus on gratitude right before focusing on the Savior and what He did for us. And I have truly come to be so incredibly grateful for my Savior. Think about it....the most powerful, perfect human being to walk this planet died for US, imperfect as we are. He loved us so much, so perfectly that He suffered for our sins so that we would have a chance to live with our Father and have happiness again. ALSO, He died knowing full well that some would completely reject Him and that not everyone would be saved. How selfless, and how perfect He is. I am so grateful that I know my Savior lives, and that He walks beside us everyday, to wipe our tears, silence our fears, and rejoice when we feel joy and happiness. 

I am also so grateful for my mom, and for all the women who have been an influence in my life. I know I am who I am because of my mother's gentle, guiding hand, and for all she did for me. Both my mom, and all of you wonderful amazing women in my life who have helped me grow and progress and learn. Truly, as Elder Holland (one of the leaders of the church) said in a talk he gave this past October: "No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child." 

I am also grateful for my dad, and for all the men in my life who have also helped me. I am a daddy's girl. My dad was always the one to kill the bugs, chase away the boys, and rescue me from all the scary monsters in my room. I never failed to feel loved and supported by all the men in the church, and I am so grateful for their example of righteous leadership and love. I have seen their example in supporting and honoring their wives and helping provide a safe environment for their children. I know that through my father's example, I have come to know more about my Heavenly Father and His love for us and our relationship to Him.

I am also so grateful for the scriptures. I feel so blessed to have the words of the prophets and feel the peace that comes from studying the words of the Lord and His prophets. I know that the Lord is there for us, always, and that He hears and answers our prayers. Maybe not in the manner or time that we want or expect, but in the way we need. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to share this amazing gospel with others! I love you all. Thank you for your love and support and prayers. I definitely feel and appreciate them! 

Love,

Sister Kramer

Sarah at the airport

Holy Smokes

Hey there lovely family and friends!

So, another cool story I forgot to tell you all about was that the other week, Sister Trost and I were knocking out by the shore and we saw a little group of Sea Lions, just splashing and playing around! It was the coolest thing ever, especially for this city girl and animal lover. I seriously thought it was the coolest thing ever. haha. I was pretty excited about it.

Anyway, this week was a little slower, but it's definitely been so amazing at the same time. The Lord seriously knows exactly what we need and when we need it, and there are so many blessings that come from being exactly obedient. For example: in our mission, we have 5 things we are supposed to do every day. 

1. get up on time (6:30)

2. get out on time (10:15) 

3. Be on time to our 5-7's (every day we knock from 5-7 PM) 

4. Talk to 20 people (not knocking on doors, just opening our mouths to those on the streets)

and 5. update our area book (the record of who and what we've been teaching) 

in my area, there are usually not 20 people milling around on the streets. We talk to everyone we see, but it's not 20. Also, it can be really hard to get to knocking on time, because members can be really chatty. We love them, but they can be chatty and that makes it a little harder. So our district leader looooves to say HOLY SMOKES if we don't do our 5 things, and asked us to try a little harder to reach those goals. So sister Trost and I have worked really hard this week to accomplish them, and although we haven't seen tremendous miracles, I can definitely say that those are the days when I'm happiest and come home and feel great. It's definitely been such a testimony builder. Because although I wasn't being disobedient, when I stretched myself a little further and tried a little harder, I was happier. I know the Lord provides everthing we need and in the time we need it. I'm grateful for His blessings, and for the commandments that He gives, because I KNOW that He gives them to us out of love and to help protect us!

Also: On Sunday, our investigators didn't come to church and the chapel was kinda empty, and so I was sad and kinda sat through the first meeting in self pity. BUT then in third hour, I was frustrated with myself for only thinking of me, and decided to try and talk to everyone in the class. I went to each of them and gave them hugs and asked how they were doing. Seriously, I've hear so many times "if you aren't happy, turn out. Serve others." but it's true. Even the simple act of talking with them was enough to lift my spirits and totally turn my day around! It was awesome. Serving others is the real medicine for the aches and pains of the soul!

Anyway. this is super long, so sorry about that! BUT I love you all. thank you all for your love and support. I am so grateful for all of you!

Love,

Sister Kramer

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER-this was last weeks email

Man...this week has been so crazy! 

Soooo...I forgot to tell you that last week (it was Halloween, actually), Sister Trost and I ended up walking in to a public restroom, and there were, like, three guys and a few girls in the GIRLS bathroom. It smelled like smoke, and they were all lined up. They were like: "Sorry, we're in a meeting." And, mind you, marijuana is legal here.....so....it was something worse than marijuana. Yep. We walked into a drug deal. 

Also, we heard a few gunshots last week. I'm very easily startled, so I literally RAN to Sister Trost and grabbed her arm. It wasn't close by or anything, but it startled me pretty bad and I got scared. So....yeah. I screamed. Sister Trost thinks its SO funny.

That same house we were walking up to when that happened, the guy ended up interrupting what I was saying and gave me the "Live long and prosper" hand sign from Star Trek. He asked if I knew what it was, and I said yes, and he goes: "Live long, and prosper." And shuts the door. I was like....ummm. Okay, then! It cracked us both up!

Okay, so the more spiritual side of things....

We were FINALLY able to get our family on date. Sister Trost and I literally got into the car and screamed the whole way home! We were so excited. Of course, they've fallen off date, and we are hoping they don't fall off again, but we just really want this to happen! So here's the story: We have been going over there and leaving scriptures, trying to uplift them and help them progress, but still be sensitive to their situation and not overwhelm them with Gospel. We've been praying a lot for them and about them, trying to discern what to do. It's funny, cause the lessons that I really just don't know what to say, so I just tell Heavenly Father to take the lesson, are the most amazing lessons. Michelle, the mother, just out of the blue was like: "You guys should come do lessons when you come over. You haven't been. We want you to read the Book of Mormon with us!" (we were leaving scriptures and talking about gospel things, but trying to make sure they knew we loved them and not overwhelm them with Gospel lessons). So we told them we would be happy to do that. We explained that we wanted to help them toward baptism and to teach them, we had just wanted to be sensitive to them. So then I was just like...okay. Do you want to pick a date for baptism? Because that's obviously something you want. So then we talked about a date and, as a family, they chose December 12!! Please please pray for that day to happen! They need to get baptized! It's really amazing though. The Lord really, truly knows what we need, what our investigators need, and the times that we rely on Him are the times that He helps us. Even when we feel like we are alone or don't know what to do...if we trust Him, He will always have our back. 

Also, we knocked into an investigator, Kelly, a few weeks ago and she had met some other sisters but had moved. So we are starting to teach her, and she is really amazing! She's so prepared for the gospel. She just kept saying "It just makes sense! It all fits!" and I'm so excited to keep teaching her! 

AND...I don't know how this happened, but a brand new set of scriptures just showed up in the church last Sunday in a bad with my name on them. I have no clue how they got there or who bought them, but the other sister Kramer in the mission told me that they weren't hers, and there aren't any other sister Kramer's in the ward....So I don't know how, but I just got a new set of scriptures, which is funny cause I'd kinda been missing my old set. I left them at home, and was just using an extra set that we had because I wanted to be able to make fresh markings, but I really missed my old ones. BUT the Lord gave me a brand new set. I don't know how or why, but I'm grateful for them! so...yeah. I will always remember that! The Lord works in Mysterious ways!

Also...the primary program was this week and it was the CUTEST THING! Man I hated the primary program when I was younger BUT I love it now. The spirit was soooo strong and three people showed up at church with friends, so that was AMAZING! So yay for missionary work!

Okay, I love you all. I know the church is true and I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of the atonement and the peace and forgiveness that come when we trust the Lord!

Love, Sister Kramer

Pictures, love, and stories

OK...so this week!

This week was full of fallen through plans and member homes. We've been really working on trying to get to know all the members in our ward so we've just been going down the list. So that's been fun. I love it. We have just such a wonderful ward. Yesterday, we got to go into the Primary and help the kids practice inviting their friends to church, and when we walked in they were singing a song and oh my goodness. The spirit was sooooo strong! I couldn't believe it. It was incredible. 

We also had a zone conference, where all the missionaries in the Northern part of the mission get together and there are talks by the mission president and his wife. We also had one of the leaders of the Church, his name is Elder Gay, come and speak to us. That was really really cool. So this week was, as I mentioned, full of fallen through plans. We've been trying super hard to get stuff done and get in touch with our investigators but it's been a no go. So....the day before Zone Conference, I felt a little worried that I wasn't really trying hard enough. I wasn't too stressed, so don't worry, but I was just trying to make sure I was giving it my all. I just kept thinking about how the Lord chastises the people He loves (Lehi, the Brother of Jared, etc) so I was trying to figure out if the Lord was telling me I needed to do better, or if it was just my own silly thoughts. So I came to Zone Conference with that question in mind. BUT then Sister Blatter (the mission president's wife) spoke about fear, and I realized that I was afraid. I was afraid that I wasn't measuring up, and not doing enough. I know that fear is not from Heavenly Father, so that answered my prayers! I, of course, need to improve, but the Lord wasn't telling me that I wasn't doing enough. However, He did teach me. I got a lot of promptings on how to do better, but it was in a loving way. I know Heavenly Father hears us, and loves us, and that He will tell us that and guide us. I've seen so many time when He's guided me and helped me on my mission that I just can't deny that! I love this work and the opportunity to be a part of it! 

I also have a quick funny story. The other week while in the Post Office getting stamps, I saw this mom holding two packages and her little boy was trying to get in her arms but she was carrying something. Me, of course, being the baby person I am, crouched down and went to give him a high five....but he decided he wanted a hug! THen he thought it'd be a good idea to try and climb into my lap. I wanted to hold him soooo bad, but I figured I would be obedient. He was adorable, though! Well, family and friends, I love you lots. My prayers and thoughts are always with you. Keep on keeping on! 

Love,

Sister Kramer

 This is her big sister, Emma Jean, who calls me "Mister Kramer". I love these little girls. So so sweet!!

 This is the cute hawaiian baby, Leila who I told you about (I think) last week! She's so cute. She was interested in my camera. I kept a good hold on it though!

 Not a very flattering angle of me, but whatever. I'm obviously not in practice in the art of taking selfies anymore :P That's me and sister Trost though! 

 Naval Museum

Hi Family!

Hey there you guys!

So this week was very sad. Our family we are teaching lost their baby girl, Bristol. She was very very fun and super active and smiley and sweet. Michelle, her mom, took her to the doctor because she was throwing up and fainting. But the Dr. said there was no infection and she was fine. But then she kept throwing up and got really lethargic so they took her to the ER. they put her on an IV and apparently, the fluid didn't pass the kidneys. So they transported her to Seatlle, and found that she had Viral Myocarditis (maybe ask sterling what exactly that means because I have no Idea) but anyway, she passed away Saturday Night. Michelle's family came up from California so they have family, and the ward is super aware and are arranging a meal plan and calendar so they are getting meals often. I will see if we can bring her a meal thought and maybe use that recipe for chicken pot pie myself :) 

But luckily, I have found such peace in the Gospel. I am so grateful that I know about the plan of salvation. I know that Bristol is in Heaven with Heavenly Father and as I've stressed and prayed for the family that they will be able to still want to meet with us and that we will know how to help them, I've just felt the Lord telling me that It's okay. He's got it. So I am just praying and trusting in Him. I know they will be okay, and I am grateful for the knowledge I have that families are forever and that when we die, it's not the end :)

Funny story: so everyone here in the stake is pretty much in the navy. A part of our area is a military base. We don't have military IDs, so we have to be escorted on and off by someone who does. WELL. the members we go see don't usually escort us off because they know we are just going home and won't go anywhere we aren't supposed to be. Sister Harbaugh always knew how to get off base, but I wasn't sure because it was always dark when we went home. I plugged the address we were trying to go to into my GPS (whom Sister Trost and I have named Helen) and off we went. Into a resticted area. Where we were told by an angry guard that whoever we were with was "in trouble" and so we had to wait for a half hour while the Gartungs (the family we were with) came and got us. We were interrogated by two more cops (who were nicer) and they were chewed out by the mean cop. Ugh. we felt so bad, and we were both shaking and almost crying. We kept apologizing to the Gartungs and Brother Gartung told us not to worry and that if the mean guard tried to make is a big deal at work, he had a trump card because his old boss was mean guards boss now, and to not worry. They were super nice about it, but it was so stressful and we both were terrified! Stupid HELEN! :P

But other than that, this week was actually alright. One our investigators dropped off the face of the planet (they seem to do that frequently -.-) , and we FINALLY got to see her! It was great and we had a good lesson and got her back on track for baptism. We also got to use the bathroom at a really sweet lady. We had tried going to some member's homes, but none of them were home. Then I remembered this sweet lady, Berti, who was a neighbor of a member. We knocked on her door and we were able to use the bathroom and even set up an appointment to go help her wash her floors. YES SERVICE! We also went to a former investigator's house (she's not interested) but she told us to go and see another lady who had moved in. We knocked on her door and she was super nice. She has a set of twins, another little kid, and a 14 year old. She'd had some contact with the Church and seemed really open. We set up a service appointment with her for tomorrow! So maybe we will be able to teach her! even if not, sowing seeds, right? Every good deed counts! Then we got to see Matt again! Sister Trost and I had about 15 minutes before we had to go back to our apartment and she suggested we do an "obedience walk" where we just walk around and talk to everyone so that we wouldn't be going back early to our apartment and who was the first person we see? Matt. AND he is still interested. He said he just got really busy, but said he would definitely be home on Friday. So YAYYYY! 

It truly has been one of the most stressful, exhausting weeks but I am still so grateful for it. There were so many miracles, among all the stress. Rainbows only come after the rain, right? :) 

Love you all! 

Love,

Sister Kramer

                       My new favorite flower, the Dahlia (i know i know....flowers. yes yes yes. But it's so pretty!!!)

                                    This is Daytona Marquez. She's 12 and so funny and sweet 

 Next week I will send you some pictures of Sister Trost! :) This is me and sister Harbaugh :)

 It's gorgeous here! 

 My ankle a couple of weeks ago.

this is sweet Bristol, who just passed away. She's giving them some fun fun times in heaven! She was a hoot and a half. I will miss her a lot. Thank you for the prayers in their direction

SO this week's been pretty rough. My ankle doesn't hurt and I have had such a wonderful experience of seeing how Heavenly Father has helped me. My ankle doesn't hurt too much. I have been able to walk around and have it not hurt. Although....it is pretty swollen still and even more colorful than the pic I sent. Haha. It's all blue. My foot is an entire bruise! It makes me laugh. Every morning Sister Harbaugh come over and is like: "What color is it today?" BUT it doesn't hurt and I rest and ice it as much as possible so it's been fine! This one lady we met while knocking I could tell right away that she was a mother because as soon as she saw me she was like "ARE YOU WALKING around on a HURT ankle?" and I was like "...Well...yes." missionary work has to get done! she offered to drive us to the church and back to our car. She was so sweet. 

This week was crazy. ALL of our plans fell through. I don't think we had a single day that went according to plan. That was rough cause I kinda felt like we weren't doing enough. PL:US we had a family that was supposed to get baptized on saturday fall through. THey heard all kinds of Anti stuff from the mom's dad about the temple. Did you know that a video of the endowment is online? When they were telling us about that and even showed us it, it just made me sick and angry and sad. BUT they were still okay even trough that. What happened was that they didn't really understand the word of wisdom and the dad had a beer for his birthday. We were so dissapointed and they were so sad. BUT the good news is that they are still meeting with us and talking to us. They are still going to pray and read the Book of Mormon and I really feel good. they will be okay. Satan just loves to work on people, but the Lord knows what they need! BUT Heavenly Father knows what I need, too, and even through the stress and craziness of this whole week  I just kept remembering your voice telling me it's okay and not to be too hard on myself and then Heavenly Father gave me a hug and I also read D&C 6 (read the last 5 verses!!! They reminded me of you momma!). I also really saw the miracles that happened. We were able to talk to a lot of amazing people. Nothing came of it, really, but just planting seeds! Also: Sister Harbaugh was so postitive and happy this entire week and it helped me remember how loved and blessed I am. I have you guys at home. sure I miss you, but that's what the temple is about. I have an awesome companion and amazing investigators and an amazing ward. Plus, Sister Harbaugh is really good at studying the scriptures, and we've been able to have amazing amazing discussions and I've been able to learn a lot!

As far as investigators go:

We weren't able to get in touch with Matt so we are just hoping he gets in touch with us. We also weren't able to meet with Jenn because her dog got really hurt. BUT we are having dinner with her tonight and we are hopefully going to be planning a wedding! Fingers crossed! Also: we got to meet this funny less active member and her non member care taker. She had this little apartment and in there were 2 gods, 4 cats (one of whom had JUST had 5 kittens. like....that morning) and 2 ferrets. She doesn't have any food in her pantry but she told us that Jesus saved her life (everything you can imagine happening to someone happened to her, apparently) and she feels her job in life it to rescue animals! I was so amazed. PLUS we were able to tell her care taker about the restoration and give her a Book of Mormon, and she started reading it RIGHT there!!!! It was really cool. 

The Lord really knows what He's doing and I am so grateful to have Him guiding me because if I were alone in this....I couldn't do it.

I am so thankful for you. I love you so so much! You are so amazing at serving others and following the Lord. I know how proud he is of you adn how grateful he is to have you. Thank you for your support and for your packages and prayers and love. I love you tons!

Love,

Sister Kramer

Sarah's Letter

This week has been a week of miracles! I've met so many cool people. There's sister Musselmann who told us right when we walked in the door that we were not to get up and do anything and no arguing, either. SHE was going to serve US! Because that's what she wanted to do. There's also these awesome people we talked to on the street. Claire was a sweet old lady who just cried about how much she loved Jesus. We gave her a pamphlet but she didn't want to make a return appointment because she believed in "Chance happenings!" and she didn't like to plan her day. Sweet and funny lady :)

Then there was a guy named JJ, who was out in his driveway and told us to "come on over and pull up a chair. Stay a while!" He told us how he was a recovering alcoholic, but that he found his wife and he found God and that now everyday he thanks the Lord for all his blessings. It was really cool how grateful he was for everything. I felt blessed to be able to talk to him. He had a Book of Mormon, and "couldn't find anything wrong with it". Yet he didn't really want to come to church. I challenged him to read Enos, and then we told him to call us if he or his wife needed any help with anything. 

I also got to meet these two women in the ward. One is Sister Pfiel. She is a sweet lady who just talked about her late husband and how much she loves and misses him, and how she talks to him and wonders if he could hear her. She also told a story of how her grand daughter's husband was saved by a man, who disappeared later and how he saw a picture of the grandpa and said "That's the man who saved me!" It was really cool, and she just had a wonderful love for him and a wonderful testimony of the Plan of Salvation. It was really cool. Then we met with a less active, Yolanda, who has tons of health problems. She's Filipino, and she almost died a number of times. She told us how she wanted to come back to church, but was worried that her health wouldn't allow her. BUT we encouraged her and SHE CAME! I was so happy!

We also got to meet with investigators whom we had tried to meet with for weeks, but they were never there. They were alwasy gone, or busy. BUT this week we FINALLY got a hold of them. We read the Book of Mormon with Jennifer, who is on date for September 26th! She was nervous to be baptized in September, because she knows she has to get married first (because she's living with her boyfriend, a less active member), but she wanted time to plan it. I explained about the temple, and how she could make her sealing the big thing and she seemed much more open to it! Hopefully, we'll be able to see them married AND her baptized (It'll be a maraige-tism!)

We also met with Jessica, who is such a sweet girl! Holy cow, I just love her. We had tried to see her, but she's moving to Hawaii soon, and she's doing midterms for school right now AND her husband's deployed so she's doing it on her own. SO it was hard to contact her, but we FINALLY did, and before we even asked, she said she was coming to church! YAY. then yesterday, she told us "I couldn't stop reading the book of Mormon. It was 1 AM and I finally told myself to go to sleep!" She's just awesome! AND this week Houston, her husband, comes home so we get to teach HIM, too! I can't wait.

Also: we met two new investigators! Mike, and Matt. Mike seemed...mildly interested. He has a Book of Mormon, but he seemed really willing to know more and we have an appointment for Thursday! Hopefully that pans out and goes well. It was really funny, cause the first thing he asked us is if we celebrate holidays :'D THEN: we knocked on Matt's door, and he came to the door with his hand dripping with blood cause he had cut himself cutting onions. I though he was going to turn us away, but he didn't! We were about to leave, so I said the usual parting line: "Well, if you ever have questions about what we believe..." and he cut me off and said "Well, what DO you believe?" so we stayed there and gave him a mini restoration lesson, and he expressed that he was looking for a church, and that he wants his kids baptized. We assured him that kids are welcome in our church and told him about primary and nursery, and invited him to church. He didn't come, but it was really last minute (we knocked on his door Saturday evening). BUT he invited us back on Tuesday, and I am so excited! He's so cool. 

I have just seen the hand of the Lord, and everyone I talk to I have felt the Love of heavenly Father for them. I just LOVE everyone here, and it's the coolest thing. I have also been really blessed because, I miss you guys like CRAZY, but I haven't been too sad. I love you all so so much! I am so grateful for all of you. You are all awesome. 

OH! one last story. So, I got a "welcome to Washington" from some blackberries (that grow over EVERYTHING) that snagged my foot, and then a dog (everyone has dogs and cats here! IT's so fun! For me, at least :p) started running and his rope leash rubbed against the back of my ankle so now I have a bad rope scrape/burn. But I'm okay. It's just a memory, right ;)

Anyway...Momma AND Daddy, I love you so so much. You are the best. I am so grateful for you! thanks for your example and your spirit!

Love you all!

Sister Kramer

**NEWSLETTER**

 

 WASHINGTON TACOMA MISSION

August 2015

Sister Blatter and I find that it’s such a joy to be serving the Lord in the Washington, Tacoma mission.  We’ve been busy as we’ve gathered together as missionaries for different events. We had a very successful Fourth of July picnic on July 6^th in Bremerton with the north conference for an afternoon of food and games.  We didn’t get too wet with the water balloon toss.  We had 3 “Why I Believe” firesides in July with our first one in Olympia on the 12th and concluding with one in Lakewood on the 26^th.  We also held a Spanish fireside in Lacey on the 19^th where Sis. Blatter bravely bore her testimony in Spanish.  All of them were filled with the spirit of new members bearing strong testimonies of how they were searching for something more in their lives and listening to the wonderful music of our missionaries was a treat as usual. 

Our zone conferences were centered on the theme of making better use of the pamphlets by listening to our investigators and testifying in shorter more powerful messages.  Additionally, using the same teachings with our members to inspire them to invite others to be taught. We received great instruction on more effectively using the key indicators to assist our “seekers” in making and keeping commitments.  Lastly, President reminded us to use the Book of Mormon in everything we do. This includes our morning studies to proclaiming its divinity to members and investigators alike.  We are to “sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out His elect unto the New Jerusalem” (Moses 7:62.)

July also brought a huge transfer as 18 of our beloved missionaries departed for the next stage of their lives and we welcomed 24 new excited and eager faithful sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.  Again it was a busy day full of love and so many intense emotions.

On Friday, August 14^th we had the blessing of having our Area Seventy, Elder Lawrence P. Blunck, instruct us at Mission Leadership Council on how to be more effective missionaries and how to find more people to teach. We were all edified and appreciated his taking a day to be with us.  This training will be carried to the entire mission at our monthly zone meetings.

We’re now into one of our favorite times of the mission with the opportunity to interview every missionary.  The smiles and righteous desires of the missionaries are contagious.  We love them and admire their consecrated service.  We feel so very blessed to be able to share in His work and to serve with them.

We love you!

President & Sister Blatter

New Missionaries

August 23^rd brought forth another batch of spirit filled missionaries. We are ecstatic to put them to work in the best mission in the whole world, the Wa-Tac!

  L to R: E. Clark, E. Alvarez, E. Stewart, E. Hathaway, E. Osmun, E. Johnson, E. Chacon, E. Slack, E. Cluff, E. Woodbrey, E. Meredith, President and Sister Blatter, E. Enosa, S. Lee, E. Martinez, S. Kramer, E. Nelson, E. Marble, E. Quinton, E. Turley, S. Hughes, E. Briggs, E. Clark, S. Stirling, E. Rogers

   

   

I'm in Washington!!

ALright, so this week was AMAZING! It's great. It's so so pretty and the peopls are amazing!!! I am so happy to be here. BUT I still miss you and think of you every single day!

My first week here has been AMAZING! Like...I can't believe how gorgeous it is here, and there are so many blackberries!!! Hehe. 

On the bus here, we sat and talked with one of the men who designs the Liahona, and who helped make Preach My Gospel! He was super cool. THEN on the plane here, I sat next to an Elder who's had 3 heart attacks, been hit by three cars, had 23 bones replaced, and was buried alive under 15 feet of dirt for 15 minutes. Also, his grandparents are German mobsters and have mob watching his families every move. CRAZY, right?! I was like...woah. I just kept asking questions and stuff. Someone really didn't want him on a mission.... 

But during all this, I was running off of three hours sleep, so I was exhausted. But it was really cool, cause I wasn't too tired, actually. I was able to stay awake. We got here and met our Mission Pres and his wife, and they are AWESOME! Then we all took a picture at Chambers Bay, and we saw a bald eagle flying over the water! It was so gorgeous! AND on the way from the airport to the church where we had transfer meeting, I was just so happy and excited to be there, so I started quietly singing (yes...I was being quiet! I know...amazing right? :P) and then some elders in the row ahead of us heard what I was singing and started singing along, and soon the whole bus was singing Onward Christian Soldiers, and Battle Hymn of the Republic, and Called to Serve and it was such a cool, cool feeling! I felt so honored to have started that! Sister Blatter (the President's wife) kept taking videos and calling people to hear us sing. It was so cool! 

After that, we had orientation and just basic information about the mission, and then met our companions. Sister Harbough is super sweet. She literally skips almost everywhere! It's really adorable. So then all the greenies got introduced, and the trainees did little skits to "welcome them" (they were all super funny and silly). Then all the departing missionaries bore their testimonies...which took THREE HOURS. I started to get a little grumpy and tired and hungry. It was so long. But then we all stood and sang "Amazing Grace" BUT it was Washington-Tacoma (WATAC) style. I started crying and the spirit was super strong. THEN finally we ended, and I got to eat. We got back to the apartment, planned, and then I crashed.

Then this whole week has been meeting people, and teaching, and knocking. We haven't had too many lessons cause it's been a crazy week of meetings and stuff, but the lessons we DID have went really well! We had one investigator commit to baptism, and another commit to read and pray about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon! I also met a funny lady name Riki Jacobs. She had a hard time speaking and was a bit scattered in her speech. But we tried committing her to come to church. She didn't show up though :(

Church was awesome because everyone is so friendly! They are all so nice! This one family , the Petersons, had us over for dinner and they were so busy with a birthday party they were just going to feed us corn dogs and mac n cheese, like their kids. BUT when they found out that it was my first Sunday, the whipped up chicken, and mashed potatoes, and carrots and salad. I was like "you really don't need to! But than you so so much!" Then another family, the Reynolds, are super kind and just funny. We went over and they fed us some ice cream cake and just talked with us about their kids and stuff. Then there's the LeBlancs. I am so glad she's been keeping you informed and everything. She's so awesome! I love her. Then there's the Cranes who will do anything for the missionaries, and sister Dodge who makes us lunch and leaves it in the fridge at the church every single Sunday. I also got to meet Brother Ramon, a blind man who was going to kill himself but heard the missionaries and they sounded like angels. So he invited them in, and was baptized. Now he calls us all his angels. They're all super awesome!

Then, we get to knock from 5-7, every day, no matter what. I got discouraging a little, but Sister Harbough and I sand and talked and told stories as we walked, and people are pretty nice. If they say no, it's more "Thanks, but we're catholic, so not thanks." or they just aren't home. We've had two doors open, and then slam with a hasty "no thanks" but it wasn't too bad! and I was able to remain positive! We knocked into two less actives, and then two potential investigators who said we could come back! We get to see them Tuesday! 

Okay mommy and daddy. Please send my love to everyone, okay?

I love you all so much. I think of you every single day. You help brighten my spirit when I think of your love, example, hugs and all the fun memories we have together. I am grateful for your example of keeping the temple always in your sights, of prayer, of faith, and of service. You are amazing and I would never be the same if I didn't have you. You are the best parents in the ENTIRE world. Love you much!

Sister Kramer

Sarah's First Letter

Day one: it was kinda sad saying goodbye to Tiff and Billy and those sweet babies, but I was really distracted by the fact that I was actually going into the MTC. I got to class, met my district, and teachers and they're all awesome! I love them so so much. I can't believe how much my love for my teachers and the Elders has grown in only a few short days of knowing them. It's incredible. So basically, Wednesday was kinda just getting orientated and getting settled into our room. 

Thursday, we had class and started talking about teaching investigators, and talking about the spirit. We also met our branch presidency (well....we got to meet their substitutes because one had just had knee replacement surgery and the president was at a family reunion) but they were all super nice and they just went over the white handbook with us and then gave us our assignments. Sister Lee and I are the branch greeters, so nobody gets into sacrament meeting without shaking our hands and us giving them a smile (which, of course, I LOVE! Cause I get to meet everyone and know their names. And I get to smile a lot, haha).

Friday was kinda rough. It started out great, but then went south, but then ended positively....kind confusing but you'll understand. Here's the story: We practiced teaching the restoration with the other district in our branch, and Sister Hughes (who is one of my roommates, was adopted with her sister from Russia, is the youngest of 9 children and has 35 nieces and nephews! She's really cool!) really felt the spirit as I testified of Heavenly Father's love and it was amazing. She told me that she felt I was going to be a great missionary! Then we got to meet our first Investigator, Selam, from Ethepia. She's portrayed by my teacher, Sister Gibson. The lesson went well and the spirit was really strong. But then in class, two elders (Elders Marble and Rogers) we being kinda rowdy. They were quoting movies, and singing camp songs- which is all well and good but the spirit left because we were supposed to be studying and we weren't. The teacher, Brother Barton, was with another companionship portraying their investigator, Paul, so the rest of us were alone in the classroom. I felt the spirit leave because we were getting distracted, except I didn't realize that the feeling I felt was the spirit leaving. Then Sister Lee suggested we go outside and study, and she expressed that she wasn't feeling the spirit and that she felt we were getting distracted. It was like a light went off in my head, and I realized that THAT was what had been wrong. I am so grateful that she recognized it and was able to bring it up. I know she is meant to be my companion, because we help eachother so much and we are already such great friends! I truly love her. Anyway, then I had the thought we should talk to the elders because we talked about the importance of obedience and standing up before I left. Sister Lee agreed, and I suggested we prayed. MAN AM I GLAD WE DID! We were able to talk to the elders during district study and bring up, very kindly and respectfully, how we'd been feeling. We also told them we loved them. They kinda moved on, and I was really afraid that they were offended. But then Elder Barker (who is one of our Zone leaders, and is really kind and so willing to help) said that he'd felt the same way, and expressed that he wanted the classroom to be a time for focusing and studying, not for playing around. he apologized for getting distracted and for distracting us, and everyone seemed to relax a little and were totally cool with focusing more. I told elder Barker that he was an answer to a prayer, and I was so so grateful that he stood up and said that. I felt like I wasn't alone because he had the courage and humility to apologize and try to help. He's awesome.

Saturday was the hardest day, except it started good, and ended rough. We met with Selam again and I felt like Sister Lee and I weren't on the same page. We both felt we were jumping around the lesson and trying to just teach the lesson, not focusing on what Selam needed (the lessons are not the important thing. the investigator and their experience and needs are. But we were focusing on the lesson, not her). But I still felt okay. I was like: Alright, that was rough. Now, how can we improve and what can we do to come back from that. But then that night, after studying, I felt like I hadn't studied enough. Then we went back to district study, and my brain was just so exhausted. I was so tired, I couldn't think. But then I saw Sister Lee studying and I just felt so guilty. Like: why am I not studying. She's so focused, she's still studying, she's focusing on her investigators, not on herself. I just felt so guilty for not doing more. I prayed to Heavenly Father and asked him to help me. When we got to the room, I had the thought to read my scriptures. I just opened up to the creation (since we were thinking about teaching Selam that on Monday) and I just read. I just simply read the words of the Lord, and while there wasn't anything in those scriptures that answered my feelings of guilt or my worries, I just felt such a sweet sense of peace as I studied. I am so so grateful for the scriptures.

Sunday. Okay, everyone says "Make it to Sunday, and you'll be okay!" and THEY WERE RIGHT! That day was the most spiritual day yet. We went to a meeting for New Sisters, where the MTC presidency wives talked about the rules in the handbook again and expressed their love and gratitude for us- and I met this sweet sister (Sister Carter) who is serving in Washington DC sign language speaking. She was gorgeous, and had this sweet, kind, happy personality and so I wrote her a note, telling her that she was a ray of sunshine, to keep it up, and that Heavenly Father was proud of her. Then Sister Lee and I went to the computer labs and I FINALLY got to listen to some music. Music isn't allowed in the dorms and it's been killing me. and the music brought such a peace to my heart, it was like I could breathe again. Then we went to relief society, where we talked about the atonement and all felt the spirit and cried. I loved it! Then we got to walk around the temple, and that was gorgeous and I took a bunch of pictures (I will attach them to my next email, okay?). Then we went to choir, and I think THAT was the best part of the entire day. We sang "A Child's Prayer" and the choir director had his son get up and sing, and I just saw this little boy asking if his Heavenly Father was there and I just started crying and I wanted to hug that little boy and testify to him that YES his Father was there. Then it hit me that that is how Heavenly Father sees all of us, as little, innocent children who are learning and growing and who have tons of potential. It's just amazing to me that the God of the universe would take His time to answer our prayers, even about silly things. I know that prayer works. I have never prayed so much in my life, and I am SO eternally grateful for the ability I have to talk to my Father in Heaven and know that He will hear and answer me. It's incredible. After choir, the mission director of the church got up and talked to us, and he was hilarious! i loved his talk. He expressed his love for us, and told us that feelings of doubt, depression, homesickness, fear, wanting to go home, and thoughts of leaving were totally normal (in his words: WELCOME TO MISSIONARY WORK)! He was great. I took lots of notes, so I will remember the talk! Then after that we watched a video from Elder Bednar, talking about the Character of Christ. It's life changing, mom. He talked about how the Character of Christ was simply that Christ turned out during His times of need, when the natural man in us would turn IN. he talked about how that does not come to us naturally, but that as we continue living the principles of the gospel the character of Christ will be a gift to us. It was incredible!