4/12

So Sister Bean and I arrived in our new apartment late the day of transfers and were greeted by sticky floors/counter/tables, dirty dishes in the sink, and several garbage cans full of...garbage. There was also lots of left-behind clothing and personal items, along with TONS of food in the fridge and pantry--including green hot dogs (I shrieked when I found those) and 50+ POUNDS of top ramen and mac n' cheese alone. I kid you not. 50 pounds. I know because I used to haul 50 lb. bags of chicken feed to the barn. Suffice it to say, it smelled like stinky boys. It was gross. The next day the Hoboken sisters and two senior couples came to help us clean. The poor senior sisters were on their hands and knees scrubbing the floor and walls! It took several hours to get the biggest cleaning jobs done, but Sister Bean and I spent the next two days washing dishes, scrubbing cubboard shelves, cleaning windows and blinds that had years of dust and grime on them...etc. It was a nightmare. Not to mention that the area book was completely devoid of information about the area and ward. We had no idea who the bishopric or other important ward leaders were, like the ward mission leader. There were many teaching records that had no addresses or phone numbers, and a lot of investigators' names were listed in the planners we inherited, but again...no information.

So, if anyone thinks that missionary work is only spiritual, I can bear you my testimony that it is most definitely NOT. Cleanliness is next to godliness, as they say. The Spirit was not present in that apartment, and the general disorganization and chaos made it really hard for us to get to work. It was like trying to run in quicksand. BUT, we trudged on through, and things are beginning to move along. We had a blitz on Wednesday in our area which has given us a lot of potentials to work with. We contacted and taught some former investigators and have some return appointments, and Thursday we set an investigator with a baptismal date! April 25! His name is Nabil, he's 20 and is pretty much golden.

President Bahr has really raised the bar this month (no pun intended, he he he). Wow. Bad joke. What can I say, I'm an awkward missionary now. So our Zone especially is working really hard to be obedient. The scriptures say that greater obedience equals greater faith, which means greater success, etc. Sister Bean and I have definitely seen truth in that. The days that we are the most obedient to ALL the rules, even the little ones, the most success we have.

And my time is up. Moral of the story, be good, be obedient, and CLEAN, for goodness' sakes, take your stinky socks with you when you leave an apartment!!!

4/5

I hope you enjoyed Conference. I don't think I have EVER been so excited for it before. Each session seemed to go by far too quickly, and by the end of the last session on Sunday I was wishing that it could start over. I loved the overwhelming emphasis on the Savior and families. This is the first time I have listened to the messages directed to parents at Conference and included myself in that category. Even though I am not a parent yet, I came to a realization that I have crossed the awkward inbetween-adult-and-child stage and need to prepare to help the children and youth of the Church. Especially during Sister Beck's talk, I wanted nothing more than to get married and have a bajillion little babies. Crazy. I am ready to make something of myself and make a contribution to the world!

My new companion is Sister Bean, and we have been doubled into the North Bergen area. We live in Union City, which us just north of Jersey City. HUDSON FRONT!!!!!!!!! Two blocks to the east of us is the best view of New York that I could ask for. It is a cement jungle! Busy, noisy, and perfect for contacting. We love it, and we love each other, and we are excited to get to work. We have set some good, challenging goals for this transfer and are getting ready to make good on President Bahr's promise that EVERY companionship will baptize this month.

There is SO much more to tell you--unfortunately I am woefully short on time... Look forward to reading more about transfers, our landlady Diane, our vehicular woes, and moving into the Elders' apartment...yes.

3/29

Well, my time is up. Sister Greenwood and I got a call from the Assistants Friday afternoon, instructing us to update and organize our area book and clean up the apartment as though we "were going to present them to the Savior". According to Sister Greenwood and Sister Cornish, the more experienced missionaries, this meant that Sister Greenwood and I were both being transferred out of Fair Lawn. Sure enough, the transfer fax came in last night with both our names on the list. Sister Erickson is being transferred as well. We won't know more until tomorrow, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people are being transferred and area boundaries are being redrawn, some areas closed and others opened, all in preparation for the absorption of Cherry Hill in July. It has come up a lot lately in Zone Conferences and other meetings, and President/Sister Bahr have really emphasized obedience and charity. The poor Cherry Hill missionaries are probably completely demoralized--I would be if my mission was being dissolved. So we're getting ready to welcome them in and help them adjust. We're having to adjust as well. Our MSF amount is going to go down from $171/month to $151! So we're going to get some more practice in budgeting as well!

I'm sad to be leaving my first area, where I have gotten to know so many people and really grown close to a lot of the members, especially less-actives. We also have made some real progress with some of our investigators, and I'm hesitant to hand them off to someone else--but President Bahr always promises us that our new assignments are inspired, so I'll have to have faith that whoever is taking over for us will take good care of them. Ariv, our investigator from India, has been working a lot and has not had time to see us as much, but we've seen a lot more of his family in his absence, and they have all expressed an interest in coming to church and learning more (wife Shakila, daughter Rhuksar and son Asahd). Yesterday Sister Greenwood and I walked from the church to their apartment and walked back with Rhuksar and Asahd so that they could go to church (Shakila could not go). They are both wonderful! Rhuksar is 13 and Asahd is 7, and they both were so excited to go to church. They both loved it and made lots of friends, and the whole family is hoping to go to General Conference this Sunday. I am going to miss them a lot. I hope that they keep progressing and that the whole family can be baptized!

3/22

Apologies for the missing letter last week. We got out to run our errands ok in the morning, but by noon the flooding had gotten really bad. Almost all the libraries had no internet--the only one up and running was near our apartment, which was across Passaic River from where we were shopping. Our apartment was fine, we're up on a hill and there were no power outages, so we were lucky. But it took 3 hours to get home Monday night! We had to double our travel time over the next few days as traffic from all over the surrounding area was funneled into one or two unaffected bridges. It was crazy! But, the rain stopped, the flooding began to subside (I discovered a bridge that no one else seemed to know was open, hehehee), and the rest of the week was glorious! Temperatures were in the 70's, flowers and blossoms exploded, and everyone started breaking out the flip flops. Just in time--it's rainy again today, and there's a flood watch. But it's not coming down too hard, so hopefully the river won't rise as much as last week.

Funny story. So the storm that started all this flooding really got bad the Saturday before. The Elders in our Branch had agreed to do a blitz with us (several companionships all work a particular area, knocking and contacting like crazy to try and find investigators for one of the companionships). It was raining like I've never seen it rain before, even at home! The wind was so strong that we were having trouble staying on our feet. It was pretty miserable, but we had hopes that it would make people feel sorry for us so they'd let us in. Sister Greenwood and I taught one former investigator family--they want us to come back!!!--and were on our way to track down some more formers and then attend the adult session of District Conference. It was really hard to see with the rain and glare from other cars' headlights. I was turning left, when all the sudden--BAM. Hit a curb. And popped the front passenger side tire. So I got to change a tire for the first time! In the heaviest rainstorm I think I've ever seen! The Zone Leaders came to help us and kindly told us that we looked like drowned rats. We considered skipping conference, but Elder Thaler said, "No way! Do you have any idea how many referrals you'll get? Everyone's going to say, 'Whoa, those sisters are intense!'" So off to conference we went. Little did I know that President and Sister Bahr would be there!

A certain seventy by the name of Matthew Eyring came for conference. He looks nothing like President Eyring--he's got flaming red hair. But he talks just like him. Very funny guy, got to shake his hand and chat a little bit before Sunday morning's session. And a very good speaker. He spoke a lot about the Atonement, something that any half-way decent missionary really comes to appreciate over the course of his mission. There's something about the work that we do that lets us have a glimpse of what the Savior feels for each of us. It can be overwhelming at times, but it's a wonderful thing to be able to work with the Lord in bringing salvation to our brothers and sisters, and see them the way He does.

Sister Greenwood and I are working. Hard. We got a lot of good potential investigators from the blitz and have been scouring our area book for other opportunities. There's a lot to be done! But it's good to be busy. We've been walking a lot, trying to hone our contacting skills. Discovered a bakery last week, Venice Bakery, that's out of this world--we could smell it all over the neighborhood we were tracting in, and eventually we couldn't stand it any longer and had to go find it. Amazing hand-made bread, and their pastries...we about died. I think we will be returning. :)

No letter this week...

Sorry folks! We didn't get a letter from Holly this week. We're betting it is because of the flooding that has hit her area of NJ, and that she couldn't email us. Hopefully things are ok, and we'll be back to regular letters next week. In the mean time, please say a quick prayer for Holly, her companion, and the area she is serving in that everyone will be all right after the flooding subsides.

Also, we're a little over two months away from Holly's birthday! I thought it would be great to make her 22nd the best birthday a sister missionary could have and show her some great love and support. If you'd like to join in the fun all you have to do is send her a birthday card! Sounds easy, right? That's because it is! Just send her a card between June 1st and 4th. As she only collects mail once a week she'll get all her letters on the same day - June 8th! Her birthday! So please make this a special birthday for our Sister Black! :)


Caroline

3/8

Things in Jersey are going pretty well. We've had some unusually warm weather--it probably won't last. But we're enjoying it while we can and I am wearing the most spring-ish thing I could put together.

Sister Greenwood and I are working really hard. I'm really grateful for her experience! Apparently our area book was in revolting condition, so she whipped it back into shape and we are setting goals and getting to work contacting former investigators, visiting referrals, supporting members, asking for referrals fellowshipping less-actives, and talking to everyone we meet inbetween! We have some fun activities planned to do with the members in our area in the hopes that it will encourage them to share the gospel more. The longer I am here the more I realize what is meant by that phrase we've heard so much--"Every member a missionary!" It doesn't mean that members should be missionaries. It means that members are missionaries by definition! As soon as we are baptized and make covenants to take Christ's name upon us, we become missionaries, because it is part of our covenants. In the Book of Mormon there are countless examples of people who were converted, repented, were baptized--and then started preaching. The two go hand in hand.

After Alma and the sons of Mosiah had been visited by the angel and repented of their sins, their first desire was to share the blessings of the gospel with others. I don't have enough time to tell you all about it, so read Mosiah 27:1-4 and Alma 36:17-30. I love the Book of Mormon so much! It has taught me more about being a missionary--being a member--than anything else.

Letter 3/1

I was so excited to be able to flip the page on my calendar, I couldn't wait til this morning. I did it last night. Yes, there is still snow EVERYWHERE, but we are looking forward to spring and enjoying the snow while it lasts. Sister Greenwood and I have had a couple epic snowball fights with the Elders. They may say differently, but I think we kicked their trash.

This transfer is a transfer of LEARNING. Technically speaking I am still pretty young on the mission, but after three transfers I'd have thought that I sorta kinda knew what I was doing...WRONG! I am finding that I still know absolutely nothing! But I am really grateful for Sister Greenwood. The experiences she's had in her previous areas have prepared her perfectly for being here. She is teaching me a lot, and we both feel like things in Fair Lawn are about to turn around. We sat down last night and made plans for everything that we want to accomplish for this transfer. It's great to have a vision! It's going to be grueling, but it'll be great to be busy, and we are already seeing the blessings of working hard, doing whatever it takes, and being obedient.

More baptisms in the Branch! And hopefully some more next week as well. One of the Branch members' aunt is here visiting from England, and it just so happens that she is staying with her sister in our area. We had a really good lesson with her about the Restoration, after which she told us that she knows Joseph Smith was a prophet! We have another appointment with her tomorrow, and we are hoping to set her with a baptismal date, maybe even to be baptized before she goes back to England!

We had interviews with President and Sister Bahr last week. I love them more and more every time we see them. Sister Bahr had us teach her a 15-minute lesson on Priesthood and auxiliaries. I'll admit I was shaking in my boots a little. As the mother of 15 children, Sister Bahr has a reputation for striking the fear of God into people, more particularly 19-year-old boys...but still. I was intimidated. Sister Greenwood and I worked really hard on her lesson, and we sought the guidance of the Spirit in knowing how we could meet her needs. Success! It went really well, and she said that we met her need that day. And President Bahr is probably about ready to be beamed up. General Authority, grandfather and friend all rolled into one.