August 26, 2013 Hola!

Leaving the MTC

Emergency Shopping run

Deer in the Neighborhood

Hi there!

Update on the MO front... Well, me and danai are living very different missions! ha! I am in a very rich part of MO (about 20 min out of St. Louis.) and the houses are monsterous. Easily larger than most houses on our street. Tons of them have pools too. So mom, you don't need to be worried about crime. They are very concientious and only put Elders in danger :) The sisters are watched out for. We also have a car. A brand new 2013 Toyota Corolla. When my comps transfered here in may it had only 20 miles on it. They keep missionaries in brand new cars and retire them after 20000 miles to avoid repairs. It's sweet!
Some random things about here, there are bunnies everywhere! They are so cute! i just want to hold them, but using my better judgement I do not. (don't worry mom, I'm not about to contract weird bunny diseases) I saw fireflies! I have never seen them before and it was so magical! I even caught one. I was so rediculously excited that everyone was laughing at me. But that's okay, I din' let any one pop my bubble.
Our apartment used to be an Elders Apartment, which means that some things were... less taken care of. For example, our chairs. Our 'dining room' chairs do not have backs on them. Not one. Because the elders would lean back on them (dad you were right) So, we have stools. It's really funny. Also, I have the hardest bed. It reminds me of the memory foam commercials where they put a glass of grape juice on the bed and jump on it and the glass doesn't spill because it is so squishy. Mine is like that, but hard. I really like it a lot, which is good because my comps felt mildly bad that they were giving me the bad bed.
I am getting really good at praying! Since I am the new misisonary, everyone asks me to pray. It's so funny.

A little about my companions.
Sister Allen: She is 22 and went to BYU-I for three years before her mission. She is from South Jordan and went to Bingham high. She is amazing at singing. She plays the guitarr and sings at many of our apointments, which is so powerfull. The first week that I was here, she wrote a song for the seminary kids, and then she sung it to them. It was amazing! That song has been a great tool and base for my mission. I'll have to get the lyrics and send it to you next week. She likes carrots even more than I do. Yeah! Believe it. We went through 8 of those 16 oz bags last week! And we were out for the last two days. We are going to have to ration ourselves this week! She is super tall, and i look like a little kid next to her! One guy even was suprised to see a tag on my chest, because he thought I was one of the Young Women on splits with the missionaries. How sad!
Sister Dutson: 22, attended USU for three years before her mission. She is super funny many of my sarcastic jokes are not lost on her. It is lovely! She is also musically gifted. She is so amazingly strong. She found out her sister has Leukemia back in may, and she has been such an example of perserverence to me. She eats cheese like I eat carrots. It's funny, we eat cheese and carrots. Oh and ramen. We eat a lot of that.
The three of us get along really well, even though it is hard to be in a trio. It's just odd to get used to keeping track of 2 other people. Oh and it makes getting ready tricky. We have a schedual so we can get all done. We go running on this bridge every morning so we can stay within sight and sound of eachother. It's mildly boring, but we need that excercise! Also, the bridge has a great view of the sunrise every morning, so that is a bonus. Then we get back at 7 and sister Allen jumps in the shower. She is fast like me, so she is usually in and out within 10 or 15 minutes. Then I jump in. I despise showering, because it is really humid, so you are always sorta wet, and hot. Always hot. So I usually take a 5 minute shower. I am not kidding. I timed myself this morning and it was 4 minutes. Then While sister Dutson is in the shower (she takes the whole 30 min) We eat and blowdry our hair. Personal Study starts at 8, comp study at 9, The 12 week training program at 10, and Language study at 11. Then Lunch at 12 to 1. And THEN we can leave the apartment (do you see why my morning run is so important?) Studies are great, though difficult to stay focused. I love having that time to be in the scriptures every day!  It is such a privelege!
The work here is good. We have been shifting the focus to member involvement and not tracting, which I am quite fine with! We have gotten 20 referrals in the last 4 or 5 days! So exciting! We have a goal to teach 20 lessons a week. That's a lot in case you did not know. However, some of those lessons are member lessons (along with dinner appointments and such). It's so good to be as busy as we are, it really makes the days fly.
We have several investigators, and one of them lives right above us. His name is Bob, and he has been investigating for about a year. He is so amazing! We are really hoping to get a date set for baptism this week. We always try and take a member to lessons (because the members will be there long after we leave to be a support) but sometimes the members are not super sensitive. Bob had a bad experience back in may with a member, and it really hindered his progress. He is trying so hard to recieve an answer, but hasn't wanted to attend church due to this. As he has ben praying, he finally realized that this is is problem, and decided to go to a different ward just once to give it an honest shot. We were thrilled that he went! He has started really progressing and I think he knows it, he just needs to really realize it. It has really made  me realize how important the members are, and how important it is to have friends in the church!
I try and write down a daily mirical, so here they are (directly from my journal).
8/19- We had a member lesson today that really strengthened my testimony of how important it is to remain not complacent. 2 Nephi 28:21 Talks about how the devil pacify's us down to Hell. I will not let this happen to me. I will die a faithful, active member of this church. I am so glad to have the knowledge that I do!
8/20- Bob's realizing why he didn't want to go to church (explained above)
8/21- We had a lesson with a recent convert who is planning on going through the temple Sept. 5. She has been so anxious about it, and we were able to quiet her fears. I know the Lord put the exact words in my mouth that I needed to say to help her. She is so excited!
8/22- We recieved 4 referrals from 2 families!
8/23- We recieved 14 referrals today! Our leaders are so insipired!
8/24- Our motivation was so great today! Even though it was so hot and we did a lot of walking we were able to see so much success today! Today we made every minute count.
8/25- Bob Attended Church! So Did Kathy (another investigator that we were about to drop because she wasn't keeping commitments, but she came to church so now we don't have to!)

I love you all so much! I love hearing the updates!  I bet it is super weird to have it be so quite! I love the pics! Thanks! Keep praying for my visa :)
Here is an awesome scripture: Alma 58:40 Be steadfast!

Love,
Hermana Sirrine

P.S. Dad, I laughed out loud when I figured out that Bro. Sirrine found out your number and called you. I'm glad he did tho! They are such a great family! We LOVE when they come with us to lessons. They are solid.

P.S.S Mom, or someone, if it would not be to much trouble, can you burn me a copy of the Vocal Point CD and send it. We're starting to get sick of our standard 4. It's not a big deal tho :) Oh and BTW, my address is 16444 B ( I forgot to put the B part!)

Pictures Sent:
Emergency shopping trip (we are so healthy ;) )
Some really cute deer we saw!
These are from the MTC, but better late than never!
All the elders and me, and Me and my old roommate Haley!