Tuesday, December 22, 2009

21 Dec 09

21 Dec 09


MERRY CHRISTMAS!! ah I can't wait to talk to you all! 4 more days :-)

So Mexico!?! That's awesome. Mom and I will def. come visit! I hear Mexico city is very dangerous... ekkk!

I haven't thought much about my plans for when I come home, I just figured I would stay in Michigan and work until I got bored out of my mind or if I couldn't find a job so we will see.

Did you get my flight information in the mail?

This week has been pretty good. Kind of frustrating still with our investigators not coming to church! ugh. We finally got a hold of Marishia (one of the dates) and she said she just hits her snooze button and can't get up! So we told her that we would stop by on Sunday before church... hopefully she will get there this week. She is so sweet and needs to strength and guidance of the holy ghost so badly!

The yazzies haven't been to church in 2 weeks! ugh so Ryan can't get baptized until he comes to church one more time and they will be out of town next week so probably not until mid-January! But I still hope they keep up the excitement, it's hard when there are delays because their enthusiasm dies down but I am sure it will all work out :-)

Today we went into Farmington with yong-sun Nelson it was fun. She is such a riot I just love her! and she spoils us too much. We ate at chili's and shopped around. it was fun.

Well love you all and have a great week! Talk to you Friday :-) YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Marchant

Thursday, December 17, 2009

14 Dec 09


HELLO!!!!

Well, we had a discouraging week. First I was sick on Wednesday :-( I think it was just food poisoning (never eat Chinese food!). It was my first sick day on the mish so I figure I am doing pretty good :-) Then our investigator that was supposed to be getting baptized on Saturday Dec 19 (Aaron and Ryan Yazzie) didn't come to church yesterday so we have to push it back (hopefully just one week) and our other baptism for Dec 27 has been avoiding us. We haven't been able to meet with her ever since we set the date which was about 2 weeks ago. It's so frustrating! BUT, all we can do is keep trying and keep praying!

Tomorrow we have zone conference which will be good and uplifting as always :-)

For Christmas if you can call me that would be great! Our phone number is 505.368.4112 (don't abuse it ha-ha jk). I am not exactly sure what time yet maybe 10:00 am. I will let you know next week when our plans are finalized. I can't wait to talk to you! I can't believe Christmas is coming up so fast!

So will Alex and Lauren not be at gmas for xmas? I need to know where to send packages (preferably one place)

So that's pretty much all that's going on here pretty lame week :-( LOVE you all and hope you travel safely where ever you are going! talk to you soon :-) xoxo

Sister Marchant

Monday, December 7, 2009

07 Dec 09

Hello family!

Soundl like things are changing for everyone. Alex and Lauren moving out, Abby moving to Utah etc. I Hope everthing goes smoothly and everyone travels safely! I love you all

Well, Christmas is upon us, and I love it! I just love the holiday season and the 1st Presidency broadcast was so good last night! It made me start to think more about what i can do to help people have a good holiday. I was coming up with elaborate plans and presents I could get our investigators (especially the ones who will probably have a lean Christmas), and I was getting exciting to the point that I couldn't sleep. But the problem was, I don't have money. So i was coming up with ideas of how i could get the money to buy all these things for people. Then this morning i was reading a quote that I had in my scriptures by Pres. Ezra T. Benson "The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature." it made me start thinking about how i can take these people out of the slums (in a smaller scale, by giving them presents etc.) but i have a better gift to offer, the Book of Mormon! a lot of people already have it so i am still working on what exactly i could get them or do for them as a gift but i realized that i don't need to give them elaborate gifts to bring them a great Christmas. I can offer them the humble gifts of the spirit. It seems like i alwasy get caught up in worldly things! haha but i am working on it.

things are going well. The 2 Yazzie boys (aaron and ryan) have a baptismal date for dec 19. and another investigator marishia has a date for dec 27. (although we cannot get her to church ugh!) so it looks like that fast we did is working! THANKS! :-)

other than that we are trying to keep busy and out of the cold. we were walking a lot to save on miles but now that it's so cold it's really hard to walk. we are still trying to walk when we can! anyways i love you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas! and remember it's not the presents that count it's the actions! My favorite Christmas memory is when we went to that food bank in Tennessee and gave out bags of food and toys!

Sister Marchant!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

22 Nov 09

Hello all!

Things are going great! Sister Lo and I are staying together for another transfer! Only 1 left after this one so I am guessing that President won't move me for my last transfers (hopefully), so I think I will 'die' in Shiprock. Pretty exciting but you never know!

Things are going good. An investigator we were teaching was struggling with getting married (his girlfriend lived with him and they have 2 kids). Well yesterday at church he said that she doesn't live there anymore, and he wants to get baptized... ugh! Not the results we wanted... we wanted them to get married! So I don't know what's going on there

The Yazzie's came to church yesterday! Yay!!! It was so exciting I can't wait to get them baptized. The younger 2 boys (Ryan and Aaron) both want to be baptized we just have to teach them! Ha-ha we are probably spending thanksgiving with them (hopefully).

So things are going great! This morning I was reading a talk called "Because My Father Read the Book of Mormon"; it was so good! You should read it but my favorite part was"

"When you know that the Book of Mormon is true, you know that Joseph Smith was called by God to restore the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth. You know that Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son. You know that there is only one faith and one valid baptism. You know that a prophet of God lives on the earth today and that he has all the keys of the priesthood and the right to exercise them, as Peter did anciently. You know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the only name whereby you can receive salvation. You know that God the Father lives and that He loves us. You know that His plan of salvation is perfect, and you have the desire to perform ordinances, live the commandments, and endure to the end"

I just love the gospel so much!!!!! it's so awesome :-) President Anderson always says that eternal things always get better and better (i.e. the book of Mormon, his marriage etc.) and the temporal things of the world get old and boring! I love that! Anyway, just some thoughts for the day!

Love you all and have a wonderful thanksgiving! xoxo

Sister Marchant

Monday, November 16, 2009

16 Nov 2009

16 Nov. 2009
Well hello dearest family!

Things are going great! We had an awesome week and picked up a few new investigators. A few weeks ago we found these awesome girls (one is 17 and the other is 19) and every time we teach them they listen so intently and they are so excited about changing their life! They are golden... when they are home! Ha-ha it's so frustrating when people aren't there for their appointments and it's especially bad here in Shiprock, but... you get used to it and ALWAYS have a backup plan :-)

There is also this family they have a 17yrd old boy, Gabriel, 16yr old girl, Courtney, 12 and 9 yr old boys, Ryan and Aaron, and a 3 yr old girl, Ashley. Single mom (Pauline) and they have no electricity or running water. They just ran out of wood and the mom doesn't have a job. She had to quit because her kids were running around after school and she never knew where they were and she wanted to keep an eye on them. It's so sad! But they are so awesome and fun. I just love them. The 2 oldest kids don't want anything to do with the church but the younger ones do, so hopefully we can get them baptized. (The mom went on placement so she is less active). The older kids are rebels but hopefully through our winning smiles and charming good looks (and maybe the spirit) we can get them interested too :-) ha-ha

The other day we picked Courtney up from school and as she came out (in front of everyone) sis. lo honks the horn 20 times! It was so funny Courtney gets in the car and was like why did you do that! She wasn't mad it was just hilarious, you know how important a high school rep is and then 2 sister missionaries come pick you up and honk HAHA! They are a really fun family.

Mom it sounds like your talk was a hit... even the high priests listened!! That's quite an accomplishment!! I would love a copy of it to read :-) speaking of talks, I was reading over the conference ensign and it's soooooooooooooo good!!!!!!! I just soak up every word but elder Uchtdorf gave an amazing talk about the love of God and this part was so poetic, I just LOVE it! You should read the whole talk!!!!!!!!

"The divine love of God turns ordinary acts into extraordinary service. Divine love is the motive that transports simple words into sacred scripture. Divine love is the factor that transforms reluctant compliance with God’s commandments into blessed dedication and consecration.
Love is the guiding light that illuminates the disciple’s path and fills our daily walk with life, meaning, and wonder.
Love is the measure of our faith, the inspiration for our obedience, and the true altitude of our discipleship.
Love is the way of the disciple."

If you get a chance could you burn some of the talks to cd and send them to me... especially elder Holland's talk about the book of Mormon? THANKS!!!!

The other day we went the thrift store here and I got a cashmere sweater for $0.50 I was pretty excited, so it inspired our idea for today. we are going into Farmington and going thrift store shopping :-) got to love those cheap finds (especially for mission clothes) Courtney (the 16 yr old) always asks us why we always dress like grandmas. I was talking to sister lo and I said "I think we both dress really cute" and she says back "you know you have been out too long when you think that we dress cute..." ha-ha it was funny! So I guess we are going to get some more grandma clothes :-)

So life is going good... transfers are coming up next week so hopefully sis. lo and I stay together in Shiprock! Love you all and pray for you every night! Keep on reading the book of Mormon :-) xoxo

Sister Marchant


9 Nov 2009

Yá'át'ééh!!!!

Sounds like you are all doing GREAT!!!! Things are going really well here too. It was actually a really slow week but after slow weeks come AWESOME weeks!

mom, thanks for the countdown but ... I don't want to get trunky :-) as much of an angel you think I am... I still get homesick

My comp and I are still doing AWESOME and still loving the work. It's hard, you would think it would get easier... yet you are always trying to be better and always striving to work harder, so it just gets harder not easier! But that's okay.

For Christmas I don't want anything... just save the $$ for when I get home. I don't need any more things... I already have too much stuff! (Like always) ha-ha maybe just a few little things so that I have something to open :-)

So I have been reading the BoM every day, obviously, and it is going GREAT!!!!! I don't want to lose the calling I am scared that I won't be able to understand and learn as much as I do right now. But there is no stopping the inevitable. You should all do it with me! Then when I get home you can maybe you can be as spiritually mature as me (jk you all have so many more years of wisdom and knowledge behind you)

LOVE you all and have a GREAT WEEK!!!!!
Thanks for participating in the fast. It doesn't matter what day you do it so thanks :-)

Sister Marchant

Monday, November 2, 2009

Nov. 2, 2009

Dearest family,

We had zone conference this week and it was my favorite by far (except when Elder Grow of the 70 came). We are focusing on using the Book of Mormon in our teaching and using it to answer questions of the soul. President Anderson said that it is the best self-help book! It has put a purpose to my studying the Book of Mormon. Before i would just read it and think "oh that's inspiring!" or something. Now I am soaking up every sentence! I want to read it all day every day. I already have a long list of questions that are answered by the Book of Mormon. It's such an awesome book and I always took it for granted. It is crazy how my love for that book that I have been reading for years has grown exponentially in less than a week.

President Anderson challanged us to read the Book of Mormon for 15 min. everyday for the rest of our lives. He promised that if we did, our spiritual maturity will be far beyond anyone else who doesn't! AWESOME!

That was by far the highlight of my week, but we have been teaching and trying to get people ready for baptism! We got 2 new investigators this week and they are amazing! We found them tracting and they are 2 sisters; one is 17 and one is 19, and they want to change their lives and do the right things. They said they like that we come and teach them what we believe and why, and no other churches do that.

So things are going AWESOME! Hope all is well there!

Love you all! xoxo
Sister Marchant

Monday, October 26, 2009

Oct. 26, 2009

Yá'át'ééh pronounced (ya ta ay) means hello in Navajo! The language is soooo hard! I wish I could learn it, but it's like mandarin Chinese where the meaning of the word depends on the intonation (I don't know if that's a word); but anyways I am learning a few words here and there. "Oat" means "yes"

Anyway things are going really well here! We are working hard and seeing much success. We have a lot of people to teach and work with, and it's only going to get better!

We are working with this family and they are so awesome! It's a single mom with 5 kids ranging from ages 18-3 and the two oldest are giving her a lot of grief so; she had to quit her job to stay home and make sure her kids were staying out of trouble. But they are really fun. Lots of work to do and hopefully we can be a good influence on the 16yr old girl.

We have a lot of people we are working with so it's nice to keep busy.

Halloween is coming up; we are trying to think of something to be. We might just be Elders, but we will see.

Mom to answer your question about keeping the ward thinking about missionary work... we did a 40 day fast which worked really well. We also thought about making magnets to stick to their fridge that has a picture of Jesus and says something about missionary work. Firesides and getting the ward involved help give them a place to invite friends to see them perform. I could send you the living Christ one we did a few months ago. We did a bag with missionary tools (i.e. book of Mormon, together forever DVD, restoration DVD, pass along cards) and at dinner appointments had people reach in and pull something out. Then they had to give it away or show the DVD to a non-member.(but don't tell them that until after they have pulled it out) the sisters in another ward did a BOM rock, where they got this really big rock and painted it bright yellow and it said "Book of Mormon rock" on it and they put it in someone's yard and they had to keep it out there until they gave away a Book of Mormon and then the family would put the rock in someone else's yard (if they needed help they could call the missionaries) there are a few ideas hopefully some of them work :-)

Well life is good! I love you all and I am so grateful for your love and support xoxo

Sister Marchant
-----------------------------
October 19, 2009
Hola familia!

My new companion is Sister Lotulelei (sister "lo" for short) and she is AMAZING!!!!!!!!! I absolutely love her! We teach so well together, the spirit has been so strong in every lesson we have taught so far!

We also work out every morning wahoo! 4 months to sexy is under way... ha-ha

This week we have been looking for new investigators and we found a golden one tracting. Her name is Katija and she said that a lot of different churches come by but she "picks us" so we are pretty excited about her.

Life is good! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the mission and my love grows daily as I am trying to serve the people and bring them the gospel. Our mission has been focusing on baptism a lot lately and I understood that is our purpose but I read an article in last month's new era called "Why do we do missionary work?" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. It's really good and but baptism in a new perspective for me. Here is a quote from it that I loved:

"We do not preach and teach in order to “bring people into the Church” or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives. We honor and appreciate the many ministers and others who are involved in the kind of ministry that makes bad men good and good men better. That is important, but we offer something more. One can qualify for the terrestrial kingdom instead of the telestial kingdom without the aid of this Church. We are concerned with a higher destination.

The purpose of our missionary work is to help the children of God fulfill a condition prescribed by our Savior and Redeemer. We preach and teach in order to baptize the children of God so that they can be saved in the celestial kingdom instead of being limited to a lesser kingdom. We do missionary work in order to baptize and confirm. That is the doctrinal basis of missionary work."

SO DO YOUR MISSIONARY WORK!!!!! I hope you are all looking for opportunities to share the gospel. There is an article in this month's ensign that talks about a stake president in Texas that promised his stake that if they would properly prepare themselves to teach the gospel, people would approach them and ask to be taught! What an amazing promise! It takes all the awkwardness out of sharing the gospel if someone asks you! You should read the article it's really good it's called "the member-missionary effect"

Can you tell I gave a talk on member missionary work yesterday! It got me all fired up! So do your missionary work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL and hope all is well! Keep on keepin' on xoxo

Sister Marchant

Monday, October 12, 2009

10/12

I am so excited to get a new companion! Sis Lo is awesome. She is companions with sister Boisselle (the crazy Canadian) right now. She is a hard worker and obedient... woot!

So yea things are going great! We set a bunch of baptismal dates last transfer and a lot of them dropped off the face of the earth, but hopefully they will come back! Our goal is to get 9 baptisms next transfer :-) so it should be exciting!

I am so sorry to hear about grandma! My prayers are with the whole family. I hope the treatment works!!!

Well this week has been kind of slow missionary work wise, but I know it will start to pick up! Sorry I don't have more to report

I love you all xoxo

Sister Marchant



9/28

Things are going well. This week was kind of lame. Our investigators with baptismal dates dropped off the face of the earth. We haven't been able to get a hold of anyone. So we went tracting this one day, for an hour and got 11 "other" lessons (teach a principle and say a prayer with a non-member)! That's got to be some kind of record or something. In Cedar Crest we would tract for 5 hours and get about 2 others.

Guess what!? We might have the opportunity to butcher again! I am so excited. I don't know what my fascination with butchering is, but it's kind of cool (plus no one has faith that I can do it, so I like to prove people wrong)

This weekend is the Shiprock fair! It's going to be great. Although hard for missionary work. No one will be home so we will have to go OYM at the fair for 4 days. Plus the traffic is so horrible that we have to walk up to the church for general conference (about a 4 mile walk) but it will be good to get some exercise in :-)

It's been a hard week, but going to the temple on Monday really helped to give me the strength to carry on!

I don't feel like I bear my testimony to you all enough, but I really do love the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every day I grow and my faith is strengthened. Especially the last few weeks as I have been focusing on faith. I didn't realize that an outward expression of faith is obedience. As I learned that my testimony of obedience grew also. as we are obedient to the commandments we are showing God that we believe that He knows what is best for us, and in return He says "here are some blessings" I was reading a talk from conference a few years ago and there is this story about a girl who needed to pay her tithing but also needed to pay for school or she wouldn't be able to take some tests. She didn't' have enough to pay for both so she agonized over the decision. Well she finally knew that she needed to pay her tithing so she did. well at work a few days later (as the tests we approaching) her boss (who she said wasn't very kind) was about to leave and asked her how school was going and she said "it's going good" well the boss left and a few minutes later the secretary came in and said "today must be your lucky day, the boss just said that all your school and books are paid for from today on" she said that she knelt down and told heavenly father that she only needed this month's tuition paid. I loved that story because it reminds me of the scripture in Malachi that the blessings will be POURED out that will not be room enough to receive them! She was greatly blessed for paying her tithing and that's how God always blesses us. So much so that a sacrifice isn't really even a sacrifice. The blessings that come are 10 times more than we gave up!

Anyways I love you all and hope that you are doing well xoxo

Sister Marchant


9/14
Hello family!

Well things are going great! The work is starting to pick up. We set a goal of 8 baptisms this transfer so we have 4 more weeks to accomplish that! (We are working off our faith right now because we don't have any that are coming to church) getting people to church is the hardest part out here. Everyone just wants to be baptized but they don't understand the importance of church, so we are going to have to learn how to teach how important it really is.

Can you believe it's been a year already? AH! Where is the time going? Everyone said it would fly by and it really is!

Abby: I sent you letters the past 2 or 3 weeks so I hope you got them...

So I am sending Alex his bday present (I know I know I am horrible), probably tomorrow, so look for it in the mail.

I don't know what has been going on lately, but I just am running out of words I guess! So love you and hope all is well xoxo

Sister Marchant

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

9-22-09

Well sounds like things are going well over there.

Yesterday we went to the temple. It was amazing! I just love going! It gives me so much spiritual strength (physically it drained me!) We ate at Macaroni Grill afterwards. I haven't been out to eat at a nice restaurant in a long time, it was nice. You know me I love to go out to eat at fancy places. My comp was slurping up her spaghetti and Sister Boisselle (former comp) said "well no one will mistake you for being refined"! It was kind of mean but funny at the same time. It's a long drive down there (about 3 hours) so 6 hours in the car makes for a long day.

Other than that, things are going really well. We don't have our greenie yet, hopefully soon! But not yet.

I am glad to hear that Lauren liked the scarf. Mom, I will make you one too if you want it. Or if you want a different one or something else just let me know.

Alex you should look up the company that made that shirt, they have some "sick" (in the good way) shirts. (Their logo is on the back)

We have about 1600 members but there aren't very many active members, needless to say home/ visiting teaching is really a struggle. they are all nice but I think people are just starting to warm up to me. They don't open up for a while.

Pres Anderson spend 1 year of his mission in Shiprock so it is his baby. But the missionaries we serve around are crazy. They aren't too bad and we keep them in line. Although there are some Elders that have a dog! It's so cute! They brought it to district meeting last week and they said I could babysit it for a few days. But I am going to wait until its house broken. (Sisters don't appreciate the smell of dog pee).

We live in a very ghetto trailer that is falling apart and VERY small. I don't know how we are going to fit 3 people in there but we will make it work.

The work is going really well! This week we had some really good days! We had a few investigators just fall into our laps! I just love when that happens :-) so we are keeping up our faith and keep praying that we will get our 8 baptisms. We still have 3 weeks :-)

The Shiprock fair is coming up next weekend which is the same weekend as conference. Everyone says that it takes about 2 hours just to get across the bridge so we might have to walk up to conference and camp out all day. But I am so excited for the fair. All the culture and fry bread yum! Jewelry and all that good stuff! So it should be a blast.

It's starting to get cold here. I am bummed I hate the cold! This morning it was 29 degrees ah! Too cold for me! Mom, I don't think I need any winter clothes I have too many clothes as it is. I will have to send some summer clothes home soon.

For Christmas you should probably just save the money for when I get home so I can buy clothes or stuff I need. I will need new clothes because I am fat now :-(

Llove you and thanks for all the support and love and prayers! xoxo

Sister Marchant

Sunday, September 13, 2009

9/8/09

Hey everyone!!

Things are going great. You will never guess what we did today!!?! Butchered a sheep. My dream came true :-) It was so awesome I loved it. No throwing up and no fainting- so it was a success, right?! It was so cool to see. I am so glad I had that opportunity :-) I will send you some pics later we don't have much time.

Sounds like everyone is doing well. I am sad I missed Muskegon. I love going up there! But, count me in next year :-)

I am glad to hear that Abby has found her niche! That's always nice to find something that you can excel at, I am just glad that she realized it so soon in life! Plus when I get home she can do my hair for free! Yay :-)

I am so jealous that you are going to Chicago that's my favorite city ever! I hope I can do my internship there when it comes time!

Brett's baptism went really well! He is a really sharp kid and he is so excited about getting the priesthood, :-) it's awesome. The stake president said that they need more Melchizedek priesthood in Shiprock ward so we need to target those eligible, and they will be able to get it in 6 months! So I am so excited to tell Brett because he really wants to be able to bless his family. (There is no dad in the home and he is the oldest so I think he feels a sense of responsibility for his family)

Other than that, all our investigators are so flakey! This week we are going to have to get out there and find new ones. We need a new teaching pool. It's hard to start over but I am sick of everyone not keeping commitments and never being home for appointments!

So anyways that's life! I want our greenie to come so badly! It will make things go better I think.

Love you and glad to hear all is well! xoxo

Sister Marchant (your fav sister missionary EVER!)

Monday, August 31, 2009

8-31-09

Dearest family!

Well guess what?! I am staying in Shiprock and training. Well sister S and I are training together. I guess God doesn't trust us to train alone! Just kidding, it's because she is getting surgery so she won't be out for a few weeks! I am really excited it should be a grand adventure.

Other than that things are going great! I am so glad I get to stay in Shiprock. I don't feel comfortable yet so people don't really know me. Plus my comp takes over the conversation so I don't say much but I think that having a 3-some will be really fun. I loved being trained in a 3-some! So we will see how it works :-)

The Shiprock fair is coming up in October. Someone told me that you will never see so many Navajos in one place so I am excited. If you want cool Navajo stuff made by real Navajos just let me know and send me some money (I am poor and can't afford gifts for everyone) lol. I am excited to be here for that.

We also have a baptism coming up next Saturday. That should be good. His name is Brett and he is about 21 and has had a rough life. When I first got here he was in jail for something and I was like... wow sounds golden...! haha but he actually is! He is very smart and already knows a lot. I am excited!

Things are going great here as always. I am glad that sister s and I get to stay together.
Anyways things are great! We are going to Albuquerque tonight for the training meeting tomorrow morning. I am so excited, I love going to transfers because I get to see everyone. I feed off other people's energy so when all those missionaries get together I just feel the energy and excitement and it makes me excited! Haha I am a weirdo I know!

So life is good! I almost didn't email today, but I knew you would be angry so I did. Haha well I love you all and hope all is well!

Abbs I will fast that you get a job too! And you know the power of a missionary fast is like 10 regular people! jk but I will fast this week for ya!

mom, I will try to send you another pic but I don't' know if I am close enough with any people here to do that yet.

oh! I don't think I told you, I saw that family from Cortez the Largos (the ones that sent the pic) they were driving through Shiprock and we saw each other so I pulled over (apparently almost caused an accident but I don't think so, I am such a safe driver...lol) it was so great to see them! they were getting sealed in the temple on that Friday Aug 21. that was exciting to hear!

Kylee is in Cortez right now so I always talk to her about all the people and it makes me miss it! I forgot about how much I loved it there!

so anyways I have to go another busy pday! I don't know why but we just have a lot to do on pdays here in Shiprock! haha love you and glad to hear all is going great! xoxo

Sister Marchant

Saturday, August 29, 2009

8-24-09

Hey family!

Happy anniversary! I wrote you a card a few days ago but haven't had a chance to send it yet! I can't believe you are getting so old! Ahhhhh that means that I am getting old too! EWW

Life is going GREAT! I still love Shiprock!

Yesterday Elder C. Scott Grow came to our mission. It was amazing! We got to shake his hand. He talked about faith and how we can see visions and get revelation like Nephi and the other prophets. That just hit me. He also talked about how the mission is the time to strengthen that faith and to grow. It put a sense of urgency to my studies and desires to grow.

Well love you all and hope all is going well.

Sister Marchant

PS!

Monday, August 17, 2009

8-17-09

Hey family!!

glad to hear you are doing well! sounds like you had fun in muskeegon man, i miss michigan! it's so beautiful there, here not so much! haha they do have beautiful rock formations though!

things are going great! shiprock is doing well. Next week we have Elder C. Scott Grow coming (he is the only GA with a sentence for a name) so that should be exciting! other than that nothing too exciting going on.

today we are learning how to crochet. we went to hobby lobby and bought yarn. exciting stuff!

missionary work is going GREAT! we have 3 baptisms next month. i just have a feeling that i am going to leave though so we will see if i get to be there for them (such is missionary life though) i am not positive that i am leaving so don't quote me on that!

mom i am glad to hear that you are liking your calling. all callings are hard at times! but the blessings are awesome! ( i would know)

well i love you all! keep on keepin' on xoxo

Sister Marchant

Monday, August 3, 2009

8/3/09

Hey!!!!
Things are going great! I LOVE it here! I haven't had time to tract once :-) I wish missionary work could be like this everywhere!

We did a lot of teaching this week and visiting people. We had a Ym/Yw activity in Red Valley Arizona. It is so beautiful there! You drive down into this valley and its red mountains are so beautiful! Look it up on Google, they might have some good pics. We hiked to an arch; it was so fun and it rained the whole time! lol! I got the coolest rainbow pic while there. I will try to attach it but it's a double rainbow coming off two mountains! Ah I love it. It should be in National Geographic or something! And God put it there just for us (because I am sure no one else was even close to around where we were :-) )

Sister S (everyone calls her that because they can't pronounce Sagapolutele) and I get along just great! She is full of personality and spunk, so it makes life more interesting :-)

The next picture is the arch where we hiked to with my comp and me.

The next pic is a teepee. They are just chillin' everywhere. Normally they have the leather on them, not made of sticks. The Native American Church (NAC) does peyote (a hallucinogen) inside the teepees; some people do camp in teepees but most of the time they do ceremonies with peyote. I love the Navajo culture and learning about it.

The next pic (I am not sure if they are in order or not but you are smart and can figure it out) is of me trying to learn how to make Navajo fry bread (its sooooo good but obviously fried) at the Kirtland stake 24th of July celebration

Anyways I hope you enjoy the pics! Luckily the computers here let me attach pics! I haven't been able to do that in my other areas... so I can update you as I go :-)

I will send the pics on a different email it's not working!
LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!! xoxo
Sister Marchant

(Note: the pictures didn't come through but if/when they do arrive- I'll post them. Brent)

Monday, July 27, 2009

7/27/09

Well Shiprock is awesome! Just as I imagined it.. ugly dry, brown and full of people to teach! We don't have time to knock doors because there is so much to do and so many people to see. We already have this whole week booked with appointments. The people here are really flaky, so I am sure a lot of appointments will fall through but that's okay because we still have a lot of backup plans. I LOVE IT! This is how missionary work should be everywhere!

My first night here, Sister Mailo (a sister that was in Shiprock for about a year and she just went home right before I got here), her parents came to Shiprock to meet the people she worked with so we went to this thing at the church and I swear it sounded like a funeral. Everyone was talking about how awesome she was and what a great job she did in the ward... etc. lol it was kind of funny!

My comp is sister Sagapolutele she is Samoan but from Utah. She is a lot of fun so I am sure we will get along. We have to get to know each other first but so far so good :-) she has been out 6 months but is very strong!

Well the Navajo people are so awesome. Very humble yet A LOT of drama! They all have children from like 5 dads and all have live in boyfriends or girlfriends, we deal with a lot. People getting raped, abuse, etc. stuff that I never thought I would have to deal with especially on my mission! It's kind of like a soap opera!

We work really closely with a senior couple. They are the Myers from Washington State. They are awesome I love working with them. Since we have limited miles they drive us places and we see them almost every day.

Saturday was a pioneer celebration in Kirtland (the town just west of us) and so we went over to the parade. It was so fun! It reminded me of the Panguitch parade. Wards and families had floats. It was a grand ol' time. then Shiprock ward was in charge of Navajo tacos which is fry bread (the best stuff EVER) with beans and cheese and onions and lettuce etc. but I learned how to make fry bread... kind of. We are trying to recruit someone in the ward to teach us how to make the dough and the bread. It is kind of like elephant ears but smaller and not necessarily have sugar on it. Kind of like the Mexican soppia. Anyways I will learn how to make it and come home and make it for you :-)

Yesterday I spoke in church about faith of our fathers but I kind of changed it to faith of our mothers and told some stories I found in the ensign about women pioneers and bore my testimony. The 2nd counselor in the bishopric got up before I spoke and told Sister S. and I that we have big footprints to fill now that Sister Mailo is gone! Ugh I am nervous that people aren't going to give me a chance because I am white, blonde, and not Sister Mailo (she is Hawaiian but looks a lot like the Navajo people)

But I know I am here for a reason and so hopefully I will touch someone!

Well I am excited for the work to go forth. I can't believe how fast the time has flown but I don't want it to! I love the mission and I love seeing people's lives change. It's really the greatest work I could be doing.

Love you all! Thanks for your love and support! xoxo Sister Marchant

Monday, July 20, 2009

7-20-09

Well.... guess what!?! I am going to Shiprock! I am so excited :-) They have so much success there! They teach so much they don't have time to tract I am so excited!!!!! I just thought of that scripture in D&C that' talks about your trials being a short time and if you endure them well then you will be exalted! I feel like I am being exalted, lol, although I don't know if I consider Cedar Crest a trial because we had success here and I love it here! Anyway, I can't even begin to know how to pronounce my new comps name so I will let you know next week.

This week was pretty exciting we taught a lot of less active recent convert lessons which was good because those have been low ever since I have been here.

Ohh there was drama!!! So there is this lady in our ward that is always the "victim", and when we first got here we were looking for service and the RS pres. said that she could probably use some help. Well, we started helping her and the first time we went over she made me clean her bathroom and jokingly I said "man, I always get the bathroom" because everyone knows that the bathroom is the worst job... Well apparently from that time on she thought I had a bad attitude when I went over there. Then a couple of weeks ago she had mice in her house and she asked a ward member to come help her move the stove to get the mice out. So a couple, the Devenports, came over and helped her. So they were taking the stove out and stuff and I was trying to stay out of the way because her kitchen is super tiny so I was talking to Sister Devenport while Bro Devenport was doing his thing. So Wednesday we go over to help her and she said Sister Weatherston what would you like to clean the rugs or the bathroom and she said she didn't' care, So she said "ok Sister Marchant you clean the bathroom and Sister Weatherston can vacuum"! LOL

Remember my Christ like attribute for this week was charity and love! God definitely gave me the opportunity to grow this week, I think I failed but I am trying to love her!

I am really sad to leave the Wilsons they are so awesome! They gave me the cutest card it said that I really touched Brad's heart :-) That's the real joys of missionary work I love it! Hopefully he will get baptized soon and then I will be able to come to the temple when they get sealed! Or if he waits long enough (I really hope not) I can be there for the baptism. His dad has cancer and so he is really struggling.

Colleen is doing really well! She got an opportunity to train for house manager at a beehive home from jay manning. that will be really good for her although she still has to keep her other job that she hates (she finds jobs for mentally and physically handicapped people) but she was telling me that what she does is prays and follows the spirit and she has found so many jobs for the people! It's so amazing to see people's lives touched by the gospel. and how it helps them so much.

I really am going to miss a lot of people here and I absolutely LOVE the people but I am ready to go and move on.

Shiprock is the reservation so it should be fun. I will learn all about the Navajo people, their customs, and mutton (ew!) plus I MIGHT get to slaughter a sheep :-) awesome hu?

Love you and hope all is well (sorry about my stupid drama story but I thought you would enjoy a story about crazies)

xoxo Sister Lizzie Marchant xoxo

Monday, July 13, 2009

7/13/09

Glad to hear your trip went well! I have never been to the UP except our Mullet Lake adventures! I don't know if we went up to the up though. Although the trip to Mackinac was pretty exciting (remember it was raining cats and dogs!)

Anyways this week has been pretty uneventful. We really didn't do anything but tract. We didn't teach any investigators (the 2 we have are super busy) but this week should be better. We are meeting with our investigators and we are meeting with that referral from Texas. So hopefully something will come of that.

This has been a REALLY long transfer. With no investigators that are progressing.... But, I love the ward and I love the Clifford's so it wasn't too bad

Well since nothing happened this week I will share with you my insights from studying. Every week I study a Christ like attribute from chpt 6 of PMG (preach my gospel). This week is charity and love. So this morning I was going through the scriptures and I came across 1 Cor. 13:13 and it says "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."
I thought that was interesting because if you would have asked me, I would have said "faith, duh!?" but then as I thought about it, charity is the most important because, as we grown in charity we feel the love that Christ has, not only for ourselves, but for EVERYONE. As we develop that perfect love of Christ then we know what Christ feels for each one of us and we know that Christ would never let one of us fail (as we know hope is the abiding trust that we will gain eternal life through Jesus Christ) so our hope is strengthened, and obviously our faith in Jesus Christ is also strengthened. Then also I noticed there was a picture of Christ in Gethsemane next to the "Charity and Love" section and it hit me (duh, everyone else already knows this but I just got it) that the atonement really was the greatest act of Charity that anyone could ever do, because it was done with perfect love from Christ. He didn't do it for the glory or the gratitude that we would give to Him, He did it because he honestly and TRUELY loves us!

So anyways what we learn from this is that I am not even CLOSE to having the perfect love of Christ, and how important Charity really is.

Anyways that's all I got for today! Love you all and hope all is well. xoxo

Sister Marchant

Monday, July 6, 2009

7-6-09

Dearest friends and family,

HELLO THERE!

This week we had interviews and president gave me the idea to study baptism. I am still working on it because it's a long study, but it's amazing. Every scripture so far has talked about the extreme importance of baptism. I have always known that it was important and an essential ordinance but I didn't realized that it's more than just an action we need to go through. Although, all ordinances are more than just an action. But I am still continuing my study and will hopefully learn more.

Tuesday we were exploring this road that we have never been down looking for houses to tract. As we were driving I saw this house that didn't have a gate! I was pretty excited but decided that it wasn't worth tracting the whole street for one house. So we left and went on our way. Well, we drove past it again and I knew we had to stop there, but my lack of faith stopped me. I was thinking no, that's just my brain making that up. So we continued on our way again. Well, then we drove past it on our way back home for lunch and I knew I couldn't just let it go. So I asked Sister Weatherston if we could tract this street really quickly. So we walked up to this house and knocked on the door and the lady came out and she said "sorry it's a bad time" and kind of walked inside, but I just stood there because I wanted to share my message!! so she saw that we were still standing there and came out and said it again "sorry, but it's a bad time" then I am not exactly sure how but she said something about us being Jehovah's witnesses and I said actually no we aren't, we are LDS and our views are completely different than the JWs. and that started a conversation! We ended up talking to her for 45 min about the plan of salvation and answered some questions she had! It was so awesome. We didn't get a return appointment but we left our phone number and the Plan of salvation pamphlet! So we are praying that she will check out mormon.org and then call us!

Our 4th of July was pretty lame. We did service all day. And we didn't' have a dinner appointment so the Clifford's fed us and invited their brother (who works in the mission office) and his wife, and colleen (our recent convert), and Helen (a single lady they used to home teach) guess what we played!? Rummikub I totally thought of you mom because that is your favorite game :-) but we didn't' see any fireworks at all! I saw one when we were driving home from service but other than that... NOTHING! I guess fireworks are a bigger deal in Michigan because they do them for days on end over each lake! Oh well, next year :-)

A couple weeks ago we got a referral from this lady in Texas because her friends were moving here. She told us to wait to stop by until they are more settled in and in town for permanent. So we stopped by last night and she was so excited! She said she can't wait to talk to us but she has visitors in town and so we don't have an appointment until next week but she is excited! So we are going to baptize all 4 of them :-)

Well that's life in the fast lane... if tracting all day is the fast lane. Glad to hear all is well! I love you all and you are in my prayers xoxo

Sister Lizzie Marchant

Friday, July 3, 2009

6/29/09

Thanks everyone for the bday wishes :-) It turned out to be a wonderful day, and getting flowers was super awesome! It made the day that much better! As you know when it comes to surprises I have a hard time waiting, so I opened all my presents except for one before my bday. Mom... I ABSOLUTELY love!!!!!!!! the stamps! They are sooo awesome I have been playing with them all week, and making awesome stationary... perfect gift! The clothes... Mom I thought I told you I have been getting fat... why all the extra smalls? lol Everything fit except the green jacket which makes me really sad because that was my favorite! It is sooooooooooooo cute! BUT we don't have a Nordstrom rack here, sooo I will have to send it home sorry :-( Everything else was super cute and fits pretty well... a little tight but I know how to fix that, lose weight! haha Well Bryant got baptized on Saturday! It was so awesome. His mom and dad both came and LOVED it! (His mom, Lisa, isn't a member and his dad probably hasn't come in a LONG time). We have taught his mom before but she kind of stopped taking the lessons when we started teaching her son. But anyways the parents were both touched by the spirit at the baptism and they said they would be there the Sunday for the confirmation...but they didn't end up coming. It was really disappointing but hopefully we can go over there and snag them! We had a fast for Brad Wilson to help him quit chewing and then they found out that his dad has cancer! Ugh why can't he catch a break! It’s so hard to see people struggle like this! I wish I could just lock him in a room with nothing in it except the scriptures for a few weeks and he could come out clean of his addiction! haha if only life were that easy :-)So Bro Manning came up with this idea that we were going to wear buttons to church that said "ask me how?" and then we were going to start this program of teaching about service and have everyone doing service for their neighbors and it's the idea that "we aren't asking for any names... just for you to serve" then we would go behind and tract and see if people were more responsive to us coming by. Soooo... yesterday we wore these HUGE buttons (about 3'' in diameter) and we didn't get one appointment out of it! Haha people would say "uhhh I don't really want to know" haha they knew it had something to do with missionary work! SAD... silly people! But anyways...Well that was pretty much all that happened this week! Got to love the exciting missionary life :-) love you all xoxoSister Lizzie Marchant

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

6/29/09
Thanks everyone for the bday wishes :-) It turned out to be a wonderful day, and getting flowers was super awesome! It made the day that much better! As you know when it comes to surprises I have a hard time waiting, so I opened all my presents except for one before my bday. Mom... I ABSOLUTELY love!!!!!!!! the stamps! They are sooo awesome I have been playing with them all week, and making awesome stationary... perfect gift! The clothes... Mom I thought I told you I have been getting fat... why all the extra smalls? lol Everything fit except the green jacket which makes me really sad because that was my favorite! It is sooooooooooooo cute! BUT we don't have a Nordstrom rack here, sooo I will have to send it home sorry :-( Everything else was super cute and fits pretty well... a little tight but I know how to fix that, lose weight! haha Well Bryant got baptized on Saturday! It was so awesome. His mom and dad both came and LOVED it! (His mom, Lisa, isn't a member and his dad probably hasn't come in a LONG time). We have taught his mom before but she kind of stopped taking the lessons when we started teaching her son. But anyways the parents were both touched by the spirit at the baptism and they said they would be there the Sunday for the confirmation...but they didn't end up coming. It was really disappointing but hopefully we can go over there and snag them! We had a fast for Brad Wilson to help him quit chewing and then they found out that his dad has cancer! Ugh why can't he catch a break! It’s so hard to see people struggle like this! I wish I could just lock him in a room with nothing in it except the scriptures for a few weeks and he could come out clean of his addiction! haha if only life were that easy :-)So Bro Manning came up with this idea that we were going to wear buttons to church that said "ask me how?" and then we were going to start this program of teaching about service and have everyone doing service for their neighbors and it's the idea that "we aren't asking for any names... just for you to serve" then we would go behind and tract and see if people were more responsive to us coming by. Soooo... yesterday we wore these HUGE buttons (about 3'' in diameter) and we didn't get one appointment out of it! Haha people would say "uhhh I don't really want to know" haha they knew it had something to do with missionary work! SAD... silly people! But anyways...Well that was pretty much all that happened this week! Got to love the exciting missionary life :-) love you all xoxoSister Lizzie Marchant
6/29/09
Thanks everyone for the bday wishes :-) It turned out to be a wonderful day, and getting flowers was super awesome! It made the day that much better! As you know when it comes to surprises I have a hard time waiting, so I opened all my presents except for one before my bday. Mom... I ABSOLUTELY love!!!!!!!! the stamps! They are sooo awesome I have been playing with them all week, and making awesome stationary... perfect gift! The clothes... Mom I thought I told you I have been getting fat... why all the extra smalls? lol Everything fit except the green jacket which makes me really sad because that was my favorite! It is sooooooooooooo cute! BUT we don't have a Nordstrom rack here, sooo I will have to send it home sorry :-( Everything else was super cute and fits pretty well... a little tight but I know how to fix that, lose weight! haha Well Bryant got baptized on Saturday! It was so awesome. His mom and dad both came and LOVED it! (His mom, Lisa, isn't a member and his dad probably hasn't come in a LONG time). We have taught his mom before but she kind of stopped taking the lessons when we started teaching her son. But anyways the parents were both touched by the spirit at the baptism and they said they would be there the Sunday for the confirmation...but they didn't end up coming. It was really disappointing but hopefully we can go over there and snag them! We had a fast for Brad Wilson to help him quit chewing and then they found out that his dad has cancer! Ugh why can't he catch a break! It’s so hard to see people struggle like this! I wish I could just lock him in a room with nothing in it except the scriptures for a few weeks and he could come out clean of his addiction! haha if only life were that easy :-)So Bro Manning came up with this idea that we were going to wear buttons to church that said "ask me how?" and then we were going to start this program of teaching about service and have everyone doing service for their neighbors and it's the idea that "we aren't asking for any names... just for you to serve" then we would go behind and tract and see if people were more responsive to us coming by. Soooo... yesterday we wore these HUGE buttons (about 3'' in diameter) and we didn't get one appointment out of it! Haha people would say "uhhh I don't really want to know" haha they knew it had something to do with missionary work! SAD... silly people! But anyways...Well that was pretty much all that happened this week! Got to love the exciting missionary life :-) love you all xoxoSister Lizzie Marchant

Monday, June 22, 2009

6/22/09

Hello,

Dad, HAPPY FATHERS DAY... late! Did you save the card until yesterday?

Mom, I must admit it was kind of awesome to hear your voice lol I didn't get in trouble at all. But I saved your message so I can listen to your voice whenever I want to :-)

Mom and dad, there is a girl in our ward that is going to U of M next month and I gave her your name and # so she can call if she needs anything or wants to go boating :-) her name is Heidi Zipperian so I hope she calls

Well this week was pretty slow. We found out that our baptism isn't a convert baptism because he is 8 years old and his dad is a member. I thought it was if you weren't a child of record then you were a convert apparently but both parents have to be non-members. So that kind of stinks number wise (but numbers don't really matter...right?)

Well Jay Manning was called as our ward mission leader. I am really excited because he is awesome and very missionary minded so it will be really good for the ward. He said he is going to "whip us into shape"! Uh oh... I thought we were in shape!

So this blog thing... is the whole family doing it? That's a really neat idea I will definitely participate and write my thoughts up there every week. It will help to unify as we read the BoM together. I like it!

We had zone conference this week and it was really good. Right now we are focusing on extending baptismal commitments the first lesson (well a soft challenge which is "when you come to know these things are true will you follow the example of the savior and be baptized) and on the second lesson a firm (which is a "will you be baptized on this date..."). It's really hard because the second lesson they don't know if they want to be baptized yet. I am not a very bold person so asking people to get baptized that early is going to take a leap of faith! That's for sure. But I think it will also help people realize our purpose. That we are there to teach and prepare them for baptism. So we will see what comes of it!

There was a ward campout this weekend and we went for dinner. It was fun; we ended up running the fishing game for the little kids. But I like getting to know the ward.

We are teaching a Preach My Gospel class and it's going fairly well. We only have 3 people there but we invited another ward so hopefully we will get more people out this week!

Nothing too excited is happening. Just same ol' same ol'. I can't believe I am going to be 22 that seems so old (I know I know all of you out there are older than that...) but it's like "official adult". I am not 21 anymore CRAZY! I think I should still be 18. (Sorry I am going through a quarter life crisis I will get over it soon, maybe I will be a motorcycle or something Craaazzzzyyy!)

Well love you and hope all is going well in lake woebegone (ha-ha mom)

xoxo
sister lizzie Marchant

Monday, June 15, 2009

6/15/09

Hello!

Glad to hear you had fun in Utah! and that everyone is doing awesome! Oh man, I LOVE the Nielsons! They are soooo awesome. Sister Nielsen is so cute and always full of personality and energy! You are lucky you get to hang out with them :-) ha-ha

I got an e-mail a few weeks ago from a guy that read my blog randomly and said "hey I see that you played nerts do you want to join some group blah blah blah" I was like holy cow! You can just search and find anything!!!!

This week was probably the slowest week of my life! Tuesday I dropped off sister Boisselle and picked up my new comp. Sister Weatherston. She is really sweet and has a good heart. I don't know how the whole transfer will be. We will see... (She keeps looking at my screen ahhh)

Wow that's really cool that you get to go to Italy! I hope mom gets to go too that would be so awesome and I would be very jealous... new Mexico just doesn't have the culture that Italy has :-( haha everyone keeps talking about how this summer has been very cool (so much for the whole "global warming theory") but I am so GLAD!!!!! The sun just drains your energy so it's nice to have good weather. Sister Boisselle is from Canada and hates the heat but she just got sent to Albuquerque (which is 10 degrees hotter than the east mountains) haha! Poor girl is going to die :-(

Yup it's true I hit my hump day this week! (and no cool "hump day" packages... thanks a lot :-( just kidding... just don't forget my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!) But it's crazy I can't believe I am 1/2 way done ahhhh.

So the elders in our district seem like a lot more fun than last 2 transfers :-) today we are playing something fun at the park (I am not sure what yet) but it should be fun :-)

Bryant is still really excited about getting baptized. Although, he wasn't at church yesterday so I don't know... but I guess as long as he is there next week. His date is June 27 (great bday present hu?)

Nothing too exciting happening! Love you and hope all is well in lake "woebegone" haha xoxo

Sister Lizzie

Monday, June 8, 2009

6-8-09

Hello family!!

Well this week was good, but kind of dramatic... Monday the zone leaders called and told us they were going to delay transfers a week because 3 missionaries in the MTC got the swine flu so they weren't sending anyone out of the MTC. But then Friday they said transfers were back on as normal. So I am staying in Cedar Crest (going on 6 months ah!) and Sister Boisselle is leaving. I am sad! Although we are total opposites, we have a lot fun together. Also, my new companion is Sister Weatherston.

Anyways, as for the work lol! Not too much exciting is going on. Kind of a slow week.

Colleen is doing a lot better. She got some job interviews and might have a prospective roommate. But other than that she is doing well.

Brad Wilson is struggling. He just found out that his dad probably has cancer, so we will have to push the baptism back a week... but he is still trying and has cut down a lot :-) man, they are probably my favorite family I have met on the mission and I really want to see him baptized so they can be sealed! It's so heartbreaking to see these addictions and how it ruins lives! and families. NEVER get addicted to ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways tell aunt Michelle happy birthday for me! Love you all xoxo

Sister Lizzie

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

6/1/09

First things first...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You're lucky I get to e-mail you ON your bday :-) love you and hope it's an awesome day.

Mom and dad, did you get the package I sent?

I am glad to hear you are using the suitcase calendar lol!

Mom, that's exciting that you are going to mother's week-end. It was really hard that one year that you didn't come because everyone was with their moms and so it kind of sucked (although Jamie's mom kind of adopted me). Tell Jamie and Wes I say "hello".

I am glad to hear everyone is doing well!

Well, Derrick (friend of the Manning's) got baptized on Saturday it went really well! Afterwards we went over to the Manning's for a bbq and most of their kids and their families were there. Other people's family gatherings suck! I would so much rather be with my family! haha but it was fun to meet the whole family and see what people were like. Then he was confirmed yesterday and bro manning told us that while he was giving the blessing he saw Derrick baptizing his family (I don't know if I told you or not but when derrick told his family that he was getting baptized they kicked him out of their house and called bro manning and told him to stop brain washing their son, etc. they weren't very happy at all) so I thought that was REALLY cool!

we are starting a Preach My Gospel class this week for the youth. I hope we get a good turnout. When I was in high school I don't know if I would have gone to a PMG class BUT the youth in this ward are really awesome kids and have strong testimonies... so we will see!

There is the Part member family (the Wilsons) in the other ward that we met a few transfers ago doing service. The dad, brad, chews tobacco but really wants to be baptized and has a testimony of Joseph smith. So when the new elders got there we told them they HAD to go see this family because first they were awesome and second they need to help the dad. so 6-7-8 weeks past and they didn't' go over there!!!!! we stopped by to see how they were doing and they told us they elder haven't even gone over there!! ugh we were so mad, so that dad said he wants us to teach him because the elders suck! haha so we got permission from the zone leaders to teach him. I hope it doesn't cause too much drama in their ward. Their ward mission leader called us last night and was asking us why we were teaching him. so I feel kind of bad, but at the same time Brad wants us to teach him (once he finally met the elders he told us that he thinks they are really immature and likes us a LOT LOT better lol)

Colleen (our recent convert) is struggling. not with her testimony but she has this job that she absolutely HATES! and it takes up a lot of her time. so she doesn't have time to look for another job and the job she has now doesn't' pay her enough to pay her mortgage. so it's really tough to see her struggle.

It's so crazy how much you love the people you teach. I have always heard RMs say "I just love the people from my mission blah blah blah" but it's so true!!!! I just LOVE colleen to death and the Wilsons. It's amazing.

The coolest thing happened; a few weeks ago we stopped by a less active (sis. chandler) to see how she was doing. She was out in her yard talking to her neighbor so we talked to them for a while. and when we drove away I told sister that we were going to baptize him and his family, well we kind of forgot about him and didn't really have an "IN". so we were out helping sis chandler in the garden and stuff and he was out in his garden and he came over to help her with some heavy stuff. well that night sis chandler called and said that Eddie had been asking questions about us, what we do, why we help her, and she explained about missionary work. He asked if we would be interested in helping him and she told him of course! he also said he has been kind of looking for something in his life... so we helped him plant some grass, but we will see where it leads.

It's cool because we were getting scared; we have baptized 2 of our 6 investigators, so our teaching pool is diminishing. BUT God will always provide!

anyways we had a really good week! thanks for always being AWESOME! love you all xoxo

sister lizzie marchant

5/26/09

Hey!

Well not too much has been going on this week. I sent a package today so you should get it in the next 6-8 days. It's pretty awesome!

Derrick is still getting baptized on Saturday! We are pretty stoked about that :-)

Man, I was so excited to email this morning but now I have this weird feeling in my gut that something is wrong or bad, (it never means anything) but I don't even know what to say.

Well our memorial day was pretty lame. You would think that people would be having bbqs and picnics, but no one did! Everyone out here is lame! Ha-ha it was even pday so you would think we would have an awesome day...nope! We did service and helped this lady sew, and then we went over to this lady's house to detox! Ha-ha it was so awesome! She has this footbath and she puts this device in the water that puts positive and negative charges into the water and pulls waste out of your body. It was so nasty, after 30 min the water was a deep amber color with foam at the top! But it's crazy because I have been so incredibly tried this last week (twice I fell asleep at lunch and ended up sleeping for 3 hours!) but today I have so much more energy! I want one of the machines but it's like $300 ha-ha!!

Colleen is really struggling. She told her friend that she was Mormon now, and her friend gave her crap for joining the church. It's really hard for her, and she also just started a new job that she HATES with a passion. So life isn't all fun and games after you are baptized but you have the Holy Ghost to help you and you have the scriptures and the knowledge and testimony to get you through anything.

Anyways, our mission is trying to focus more on "our purpose is to baptize" so this week we are going to be extending 4 baptismal commitment dates! That's pretty exciting, hopefully it all works out.

Things are going great! I love the mission. I know that this gospel is absolutely the only true church of Jesus Christ. It's amazing to see the change as people work towards the step of baptism. I hope all is well and everything is going GREAT! Love and miss you tons xoxo

Sis. Lizzie

5/18/09

So we had a baptism on Saturday and it went sooooo well! Colleen is awesome. She is so funny, she was in the bathroom getting ready in her jumpsuit and we wanted to take pictures so she grabs this stupid tacky flower from the bathroom and goes "I need a prop, all pictures are better with props!" ha-ha she cracks me up!! I will send you some pics in the mail today hopefully. Then we had the baptism and it was wonderful! She was touched by the spirit you could totally tell. afterwards we were in the chapel watching a movie and waiting for Colleen to get ready and it was taking her forever, so we went back to see what she was doing and we heard the blow dryer so I turned to sister and said "is she really blow drying her hair!?" and sister goes "it's Colleen!!!" she is a very sophisticate woman and then I was thinking about it and I would probably blow dry my hair too. Ha-ha she is a crack up I love her! Then she was confirmed yesterday in church and it was ward conference so the stake president was speaking and he called her up and talked to her for a bit and she was on her toes (literally) the whole time it was soo cute! Then she bore her testimony and she did amazing! Everyone said afterwards that she is going to be a great member. She is a member of toastmasters (a club where they give speeches) and loves getting up in front of people. We told her that this was the BEST church to join for things like that! Ha-ha

Mom..... HAPPY BRITHDAY!!!!!!! wow the big 52 ahhhh... your package probably won't be in the mail until next week because I have to get dad something and I am going to send some winter things home so I have to get everything together and that probably won't happen today, so sorry in advance...I didn't forget!

Today we got to go to the temple! It was so amazing and exactly what I needed. The love I felt from the Savior was so strong and I got an added strength and hopefully more enthusiasm for the work.

Dad, you asked some questions: yes, we told brother manning about "WWBMD?" he probably hates us but oh well! He laughed...
The ward is awesome! They really take care of us. One family always makes sure we are fed on holidays and that we have a place to call our families and things like that. It is a VERY thoughtful ward everyone is always thinking about others. BUT they are kind of reserved, when we bring investigators in they don't reach out and go out of their way to say hi and get to know them. It's the whole "east mountain (of Albuquerque)" mentality, reserved and kind of just stick to themselves most people move up here to get out of the city and don't want to be bugged... just want to do their own thing. That's kind of hard, but they are my favorite ward so far!
Yes we spend most of our time tracting which is really really hard and discouraging, but what can ya do? We do try to contact less actives and things but no one is home during the day or they have gates around their house. So our nights are always full, it's just the day time that's hard. We try to do service during the day so it's not too bad.
The house we live in just has a separate room off the kitchen (kind of like Alex's room in Tennessee but not separated by a hallway) and we have a room and bathroom and share the kitchen. The Clifford's are so amazing! They are the most thoughtful people. Always reaching out to those in need. There is a single lady in the ward and she slipped and fell and broke her leg and she called them and they took her to the hospital and made sure she made it in and out of surgery and just always there for whoever needs them. Sister Clifford took us to the temple today and a few weeks ago she took up to Albuquerque to ride the tram to the top of the Sandias.
I am not sure of our plans for Memorial Day yet but it's p-day so no tracting yay!!! We will get to play all day, but not in the lake :-( bummer. I am going to miss swimming this summer but luckily I will only be out one summer.
Well I hope al and Lauren made it back safe. I hope you will send me some hard copies of pics from the wedding :-)I also need their address I got them a little something. I will get some pics off to you all today hopefully! Love and miss you all soooo much! I miss you more and more every day.

LOVE YA!!!!!!!
Sister Lizzie

Monday, April 27, 2009

4-27-09

Well this week was all in all pretty good. Although waiting for transfer news kind of sucked... but we are both staying here! I am so excited because I want to see the baptisms. sister and I will be together for 4 1/2 months all day every day! Ha-ha but we aren't sick of each other yet! So hopefully we won't be by the end of this transfer :-)

We don't have an official date with Derik (bro manning's friend) but he is coming along quite nicely. I think bro manning was lying when he told Uncle Alan that I am a good teacher, because I am not! Sister Boisselle tells me all the time that I need to work on my teaching skills! Ha-ha but it's okay because I have the spirit with me and that's all that matters. (I am still trying to work on it... apparently I repeat myself a lot)

On Saturday we volunteered at this piano concert with Colleen (the one getting baptized) and we were ushers. It was pretty exciting... the pianist was Richard Goode apparently he has a Grammy and has played in symphonies all over the world. It was pretty intense and kind of boring...BUT we got to spend some time with colleen and we talked about why she wants to join and talked more informally about her testimony and so it was a really good opportunity.

Yesterday was our fireside and it went really well! Sister Boisselle sang and she has a really good voice. Our ward mission leader told us afterwards that at first he thought "oh no! Another sister missionary that thinks she can sing" but he said he was wrong and she has a good voice! Ha-ha I thought that was hilarious! Everyone says they loved it, but you know they all have to say that. My honest opinion was that it was good and the spirit was there. Some of the people (the teenage boys and one girl) didn't practice and so it was kind of off... but overall it was good. There were a lot of non-members there and it was a good opportunity for them to see that we believe in Jesus Christ the same as them. Also we invited some members whose spouse isn't a member and they all came! The guy that narrated isn't a member but has a really good deep narrating voice and he did well. we were hoping maybe it would touch him as he was reading it... we will see (he comes to church about every other week and encourages his kids to go to church and stuff so we aren't sure what his hold up is) Firesides are A LOT of work but I think it will be worth it in the end.

There is a less active lady that is trying to set me up with her son. He is in the Navy. So, yesterday at church she was asking me my first name and then she asked where I am from and she goes ohhh Alex (her son) loves Michigan! ha-ha every time we go over there she talks about how amazing he is and how his roommates were laughing at him while he was talking to his mom and he goes "shut up, I am family oriented ok?" ha-ha!!!! I thought that was hilarious

Well that was pretty much all for this week! Hope all is well in "lake woebegone" hope the wedding goes well!


HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

love ya xoxo
sister lizzie marchant

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

4/20/09

Ok so we had the BEST week EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Well it was the best and the worst week ever) but we got a baptismal date!! I am sooo excited. Her name is Colleen and she has investigated the church before but stopped for one reason or another. When we got here the Clifford's (the family we live with) told us about her and that we should stop by. So we did and she was always too busy with work and was never home. Well, she lost her job and so now she has lots of time, so we kept being our persistent little missionary self's, and kept stopping by and one day she was actually home. She was on her way out but we finally got her to make an appointment with us. Well, we went over there and she is kind of all over the place. But we taught her and she has been really receptive. We also gave her "Life is a football game" by Troy Dunn and she loved that! She said that helped a lot. Anyways so we were over there teaching her and she said at the end of the lesson... "I want to be baptized" awesome!!! We obviously didn't have anything to do with it and it was just the right timing but we are so excited. Last year the Cedar Crest Ward had 1 baptism total!! And this year we already have one date and almost 2 more!

So yesterday at church we had 3 investigators! (record high for our ward) Colleen was there and she stayed for all 3 blocks (which she has only done once last year). Lisa has been saying that she will come for about 2 months now and she stayed for 2 blocks, and then... CJ (about 19-20 yrs old) came to church with his friend. His friend took him up to Temple Square this week and he watched the Joseph Smith movie and got a Book of Mormon. He is really excited about learning. In Sunday school he told Jaycee Manning that he wishes some of the kids would shut up because he wanted to learn what the teacher was trying to teach! He is really really smart. Jaycee told us that in 8th grade he got a 31 on his ACTs, He just got messed up in some bad things (he was in a gang, probably drugs etc.) But he quit smoking 2 weeks ago and is moving to Utah soon. Soooooo we don't have much time to teach him but we are REALLY excited!!

Our fireside is coming along. The guy that was supposed to sing "I believe in Christ" at the end of our fireside called last night and said he didn't want to do it anymore. I am not sure if it's because we weren't super organized at our practice last night or what but I am super bummed about that because he is amazing! He had a #1 hit song in Australia, it would have been the perfect ending but I guess we will have to find someone else. Frustrating but that's life! Another person's mom died so she and her daughter won't be going either. Firesides are soooooo hard to plan!!! Never again! lol

So we taught Victor and Jessica this week and they are doing well. They said they like to hear about real people's conversion stories so I was thinking maybe Gma and Gpa B could maybe e-mail me their stories and Victor and Jessica could read them. I think they just like to hear about how people feel the Spirit and that it's not just a big lightning bolt. I don't know, they are a tough case. I think they will be baptized it will just take them a while. He is there it's just her that we are waiting for.

The Relief Society President's husband isn't a member (he is kind of hardcore Catholic actually) and we went over for dinner and we taught this lesson called "cups" (awesome lesson about how our church is organized exactly like Jesus Christ set up his church). We were super nervous that we were going to offend him or something, BUT sister Everett said that it went really well and he asked her questions after we left!!! Every little bit helps.

Man, yesterday I was just so excited about people coming to church, and seeing the results of all our hard work! This is what missionary work is all about! Most days are hard but the awesome days totally make it all worth it!

I love this work and I am so grateful that I am out here doing exactly what the Lord wants me to do! I love you all and thank you for keeping me in your prayers! xoxox

Sister Lizzie Marchant

Monday, April 6, 2009

4-6-09

It's the most beautiful day outside today! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the sun :-). Today we had a chance to just sit outside and write letters it was so nice! We also got to go to target! Yay! I needed to update my wardrobe a little bit for spring. All my clothes are kind of dreary and dark! lol Mom, did you get those shoes? If not... I think the size is an 8 1/2 . I was looking on the back. It's kind of worn out but I think that's the size and I remember when buying them that the size seemed really big. If you already ordered them then don't worry about it!
:-)

Sister Boisselle is feeling better this week and we have been working, so I guess life is good!

Our fireside is coming along. it's not until April 26 so we still have a few more weeks. I never realized how much goes into planning a musical fireside. We finally, almost have everyone confirmed, but still not yet! it's very stressful :-) ha-ha, but I am so excited to see how it turns out! I know it's going to be great because we have God on our side!

Door knocking is going well... not too much success but we are still out there trying. The springs here are extremely windy! So that's super annoying but hopefully it starting to die down a bit soon.

I can't believe the wedding is coming up so soon! I am going to have a married brother! Crazy and a sister-in-law... lol Tell Al I better get an invitation... I may not be able to go, but I at least want to be invited!

Conference was AWESOME!!!!! I just loved it. My favorite talk was probably Jeffrey r Holland's! It was sooooo amazing. I also really liked L. Tom Perry's story about the ewe and how he related it to missionary work. It was the only talk that was about missionary work :-( lame lame)! ha-ha. But it was still so, so good!!! Between conference sessions we watched a movie called "On the Lord's errand" and it was about Thomas S. Monson's life. It was really good! If you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it!

well... things are going GREAT! hope all is well at Lake Woebegone! love you all and good luck driving mom and Abby! be safe :-)

xoxo
Sister Lizzie Marchant

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

3/23/09

Well hello there,

This week has been pretty good. Things are still picking up a lot and the whole ward can see the positive effects of the 40-day fast! They were a little skeptical at first but they are starting to realize that it does help.

We are still planning a fireside but we are pushing it back to April 26. I am excited it should be really good.

I love Cedar Crest. We have taken some of the young women out with us, and on Saturday we took a girl named Lindsey. She was so awesome; she did some door approaches and was very comfortable. She wrote Sister Boisselle and me cute little notes about how much it meant to her and how much she could feel the spirit when we taught. It was really sweet of her, and it was fun to switch things up and have someone else with us.

I love Sister Boisselle. The more I am with her the more I understand her and appreciate her. She is amazing and has taught me so much. My appreciation for her has grown so much this week. I am not sure why, but I feel a lot closer to her. Maybe there is a storm ahead that we need this bond to endure, but I am so glad that I have the opportunity to serve with her. She and I are completely different but it works.

Our investigators are all doing the same. Lisa is progressing towards baptism so hopefully we can get her dunked before we leave! Ha-ha

Dad, I can't believe you are one of those guys that falls asleep on the stand!!! Just kidding I have been a witness of that for ages!

Well just want you to know that even though I don't share my testimony every week it's still growing daily. (How could it not!?) And I love this church with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. I am grateful for this opportunity, although it's hard to be away from you all, I would never want to trade this to be home. Hope all is well! Love ya xoxo

Sister Lizzie Marchant (cover all my bases)

3-30-09

Well well well...

Life is pretty good. Not much has changed in the past week.

Sister Boisselle has been sick for the past 6 weeks or so and it's getting old! Ha-ha I wish she would just get better because it's hard to focus on the work and missionary life when you have so much time to think. I just want to be out doing missionary work!!!! lol but finally she got a blessing yesterday and she is taking medicine so hopefully she can get better ASAP! Ha-ha

A lot of our appointments canceled on us this week, which is a bummer but we are on for this week!

We had zone conference this week which I always love! we focused on making sure our area books are updated every day and also finding activities other than tracting... speaking of, thanks for the Sally Deford website mom! We got a few songs from there. Our fireside is coming along but kind of stressful!

It has been cold this week :-( and on Friday we got like 6''-8'' of snow! It was mostly melted by the next morning but still... I just want warm weather!!!! Today there were some flurries... ew!

Last night I had a dream that I was coming home and I started bawling because I didn't want to go! Ha-ha it helped me realize that I do want to be here. This week I have been kind of homesick, but I know I don't want to go home.

Well I hope all is well and life is treating ya good! Love and miss you all tonz xoxo

Sister Lizzie Marchant

Monday, March 16, 2009

3/16/09

Well hello there!

My week was good! Sister Boisselle and I are both staying here in Cedar Crest. I am breaking my cycle of a new comp every transfer. I think we will both be here for a while; 6 months or so, but we will see.

I bet ripping the wallpaper of the kitchen was fun... you should send me a pic of your new couch and stuff! It was super cold last week... it even snowed! But this week seems to be better (so far... it IS Monday!) haha

Lets see... what else happened this week? Same ol', same ol' our investigators aren't coming to church and that is kind of frustrating.

We are working on a fireside. we wanted to have it on Easter Sunday, but too many people are out of town so we are going to have to push it back. We are reading through The Living Christ and having songs inter-mixed.

The wedding in Hawaii? Sounds like fun! It also sounds expensive... i want to do that except I want to get married in the London temple, unless the Rome temple is done. Then I want to get married there :-) lol Oh well. Hope all is well! Things are going well here.

Love you

xoxo
Sister Lizzie

Saturday, March 14, 2009

3/9/09

Well HELLO!

I am doing well, starting to feel settled in Cedar Crest. Finally starting to feel like I know the ward and my way around places. It's hard moving areas but it's been good. I have definitely learned a lot from this area.

The weather here has been pretty warm until today! It was snowing :-( but it started to clear up! Hopefully it doesn't last until tomorrow. tracting in snow is not my favorite thing to do.

Mom, I forgot what I sent home, but if it's cute send it :-) People feed us way too much food I hate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the time I get home I am going to be ginormous! jk Hopefully I can get it under control by then.

Yea, the mannings are awesome! Bro. manning is hilarious! That's crazy that you know them. So far you have know someone in both of my areas... we must be a pretty popular family around the country (well around New Mexico) haha .

We are teaching a lady named Lisa and she is awesome! She said last week that she wants to be baptized but wants to know more first and she also wants her son to be baptized! It's so cool and her nephew just started getting active again and is about to put his papers in to go on a mission, so he is going to be in the lessons and last week he added an AWESOME testimony to the lesson! I am really excited about teaching her.

We are also teaching a family, the Salgados, that has investigated before, but yesterday we had dinner with them and 2 other families in the ward. So we had to go to another appointment, but after we left Victor told the members that he was in his study group and the topic of religion came up and they asked him if he goes to church and he said "not yet but I am about to join one". They asked which one and he said the Mormons! We were really excited about that, although they won't make time for us to teach them... I don't understand the mixed signals so who knows! haha we will keep working on them.

We are finally getting a steady teaching pool going and things are getting going. not as many people as we were teaching in Cortez, but these people are actually progressing :-) which is the important part.

Transfers are coming up next week! Crazy this transfer went by SOOOO fast! I think every transfer goes faster and faster! It's crazy.

So wedding plans are coming along? May 9th right?
Tomorrow is 6 months! can you believe it 1/3 done... man I didn't believe people when they said it flies by but it really does! But, I don't feel like I am 2/3 of the way from being perfect... I guess RMs aren't perfect :-\

love you guys and hope you have a great week!

xoxo lizzie



3/2/09
Hello,

Cool pictures!! (Hawaii) Well the weather here is amazing! I love it :-) It's in the 50s or so and it's Feb! (well now it's march but still... way better than Michigan OR Idaho). This week has been pretty good. Sis. Boisselle was sick so we didn't go out a lot but that's okay because all we had was tracting anyways lol. So I read Jesus the Christ! What an amazing book :-) I LOVE it. I haven't been reading it in chronological order but just the chapters I want to read.

Not much is new, this morning we played tennis for a little bit and it made me glad that I took lessons because I beat almost everyone (elder Utai beat me but I will get revenge after e-mail). So thanks for making me learn! haha

We had stake conference yesterday and Elder Uchtdorf spoke it was awesome! I love hearing from the apostles :-).

Love ya and hope all is well. You are always in my prayers.

xoxo

Lizzie

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

2/17/09

Well... Cedar Crest is a hard area! Things are starting to pick up this week, but last week our numbers weren't very good. Sis. Boiselle was sick but we still tried to get out and work, so we tried to contact less actives, with little success. It's hard to just "drop in" on people here. We feel bad because we know that is no excuse so this week we are going to work, work, work!!!

As of now, we don't have any investigators and are trying to think of ideas to help the work rather than tracting all day every day. Tracting here isn't the most effective use of time. We are going down the ward list to meet all the members in the ward (active and less active) and ask for referrals. In Preach My gospel it talks about how if you ask for referrals from everyone you will be busy, so that we are going to focus on this week. I hope the work starts to pick up, because I KNOW the "field is white all ready to harvest" we just need to find the white wheat!

Our first day here we tracted into a lady who was taking her husband to the hospital for open heart surgery and she started to tear up when we got there and said that we are what she needed right then. Sister Boisselle said "God knows what you need" and I just can't get her out of my mind, so we were in the neighborhood a few days ago and we decided to knock on her door and see if everything went well, so we did and no one was home, but we left her a note saying that we dropped by to see if Thomas was doing okay and if everything went well and told her to call us if she needs anything. I hope maybe that sparks some interest or at least plants a seed.

We had Zone Conference this week and it was exactly what I needed. I started to slack off on my PMG study but now I study it daily. I have seen an improvement in my attitude towards missionary work and have been more excited to implement what I learn into the work. I love zone conference! It's just always so motivating and exciting, plus you get to meet together with a bunch of other people that are going through the exact same thing you are!

Yesterday at church a guy gave a really good talk and one thing that stuck out was, he said that a parent's responsibility is to help children understand spiritual experiences. I really liked that, because I have never thought about that before.

I got your package! thanks so much I absolutely LOVED that holiday kit thing! We were staying with a different family this weekend while sister Clifford was out of town and they were out of town also, so we left the mobile hanging in their entry way and made the boxes and filled them with candy as a thank you. It was really cute! perfect timing because the mom loves holidays (I don't know if I told you about our "red meal" last week, but it was that family) and she goes all out on celebrating so may she will reuse it next year! The elders liked both of the shirts and they wanted them from me! (especially the Jesus one) but no worries I didn't give them away. lol

Well love you all life is good just keep praying that we will actually get investigators! You are all always in my prayers! xoxo

Sister Lizzie Marchant

Monday, February 9, 2009

Feb. 9, 2009

2/9/09

Well my new area is pretty cool! We are living with members and they have a really nice house. If you want to look it up on Google Earth the address is: 26 Lauren Taylor St., Tijeras, NM 87059

Last week was a pretty hard week. We don't have any investigators and so there isn't a lot to do. We went tracting but it's hard here because there are so many hills. It was a good workout :-) Since we are living with members it's hard to feel comfortable because we aren't in our own space. We have the guest bedroom and a bathroom but we share the kitchen and stuff. It's fun though because they are really nice. Kathie and Tom Clifford are their names. She is an early morning Seminary teacher and he works for some gov. job. I didn't really understand when he told me. They have a dog which is fun! It's a golden lab. They are letting us use their gps and cell phone (until we get our own) so it's kind of fun. It's so beautiful here and the area is pretty wealthy so there are BEAUTIFUL homes. I love the Santa Fe style, which is the style of most of the houses.

My comp and I don't have much in common, but she is nice. I am sure we will get along fine. She is from Canada if that explains anything lol jk. Her name is Sister Boisselle (we just call her Boise) ha-ha

My district leader is Elder Utai. He is from Samoa and he is hilarious because he doesn't care about anything and so he just does whatever he wants! He is very spiritual but when it comes to the rules he doesn't care. It's funny because the first night we ate at the Cliffords (our host family) and we couldn't get into the gate. (I forgot to mention that tracting is hard when about 65% of the people have gates). So, E. Farnsworth jumped the gate to have them let us in. Then at dinner S. Boise and E. Farnsworth (we call him Farnsy for short) said 'shut up' which is "a forbidden word" in the Clifford household. ha-ha. It was funny because after they left sis and Bro. Clifford were telling us how irresponsible the Elders were and how excited they are to have sisters (E. Utai has been here for 10 1/2 months and for the last 2 transfers they have been covering Cedar Crest and Edgewood). So yesterday EVERYONE was really excited to have sisters in their ward again :-)

I really like the ward, everyone is so nice and willing to help. We have been trying to connect to former investigators and things, but so far no luck! ha-ha But, we are working and it will start to pick up.

That's exciting that Pam and Alan are going to Calgary! It's kind of cold up there but they are going to be awesome! I am jealous! I wish they were coming to my mission!! But Pres. Anderson is amazing!!!!

Mom, I am not training, Sister Boise has been out for 6 weeks so she pretty much knows what's going on. How did you forget to read your scriptures when you were training? It's 2 hours of set aside time... ha-ha jk. It's not too stressful being senior, except for the driving... ugh! That's stressful!

Sounds like amber's wedding was beautiful! I am excited to see how Alex and Lauren's wedding turns out.

I will probably send a package home soon... I have a bunch of stuff I don't use and need to send home. I will send home my planners so you can look at what I have been doing every day for the last 5 months (my 5 month mark is tomorrow... not that I am counting or anything)


Well! life is good! this area is going to be challenging BUT I will definitely grow and become a better missionary so it is good. tell Abby my address is: 4400 presidential dr. NE Ste. E Albuquerque, NM 87109 so when in doubt... send it there :-) ha-ha love you and hope all is well.
xoxo
Lizzie

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Feb. 2, 2009

Hello Lake Woebegone!

Well transfers are tomorrow and guess what!?! I am leaving Cortez :-( I am really sad. Yesterday and today I have been saying goodbye... and it stinks!!! Oh well I am praying that I can come back and finish my mission here... we will see. I am going to Cedar Crest. it's in the east mountains of Albuquerque, so I am really excited. My companion has been out for 6 weeks and I can't pronounce her name! The area has been closed to missionaries for 2 transfers (3 months) so we are opening it. I am a little nervous to open an area, but I am sure we will be fine. I will also be going to be senior which stinks because I have to drive now :-( We are living with a member of the bishopric and his wife, so that should be fun! I am ready to leave Cortez so it will be a good change.

So have Pam and Alan been in the church news yet? Every time I can get my hands on one I look to see if they are in it and no luck so far. when do they find out where they are going?

This week has been pretty lame, except for transfer news. I think I have told you about Char and her 2 boys, but we have been teaching them and they are doing so well! She already has a strong testimony, the only thing holding her back is her husband. He doesn't want anything to do with the church, he is being supportive, but she wants him right there with her. So we taught her the Restoration and she already knew the Joseph Smith story and had a testimony of him! I am so sad that I don't get to teach her anymore. But I will get to find people to teach in Cedar Crest :-)

Another family we are teaching, the Cyrs, has finally opened up and told us their reservations with the gospel. They belonged to a cult for a long time and they just got out of it a few years ago, but they don't believe in truth. They were brainwashed for so long and then let down that they have a hard time believing other things. It's really sad that they are so messed up because of some guy that was power hungry! He told them that only the people in the cult were human and everyone else was animals, and that the moon was actually only 9 miles away! Super crazy stuff that makes you wonder why they believed it! oh! He also said the world was going to end in the year 2000 and that the Russians are all going to come over and destroy us soon. Ha-ha super funny!

There is the family, the Sacketts, they are so awesome! One of the families I am going to miss the most. Joe (the dad) is trying to quick smoking, so he can baptize his son. So I told him I would give up sweets until the end of next transfer, sooo... I haven't eaten any sweets in about a week and a half! ahhh who would have ever guessed I could do it. I can do it for someone else, but if it was just for me and to be healthy... not so much. They have 3 little kids and they are CRAZY! but super funny. Maddy just turned 3 and the other day she put my coat on and runs in and goes "Hi, I'm Marchant" it was so cute!! Then, when we were about to leave we said Maddy do you want to come with us? (just kidding obviously) and she goes "shoes..." and she ran and got her shoes and was about to come with us! Ha-ha Her birthday was the other day and Kirsten (the mom) asked what she wanted and she said "cake!" all she wanted was cake :-) Super awesome family! So the other day we were over there and Joe was joking but said "man, I wish you guys could babysit! Kirsten and I need some time together" sooooo we thought hmmm... we can't babysit but someone else can! so we got the Relief Society Pres to babysit their kids and we made them dinner. We decorated their dining room with Christmas lights and candles and the elders were their waiters! It was soooo much fun! Then we left and they had 2 hours without their kids to just be together! It was so funny, they said "man, we don't even know how to talk without kids climbing all over us" I don't think they have been alone in a long time... they prob can't afford a babysitter.

There is another family I just LOVE! they are the Largos. (Abby is friends with Justin on facebook) but they are so awesome! We had FHE over there almost every Monday and they are just a really close family! every time I go there it makes me miss you guys! But last night we went over to say goodbye and Justin and Tyler did the Haka (sp?) it's a Hawaiian dance but it was hilarious! I got it on my camera, so when I send it home you can watch it!

So that's a little about the people I have been teaching... it's a little late because I am leaving but hey! It's crazy because you don't realize the impact you make on people's life until you leave. Yesterday at church a few people came up to me and told me to keep in touch, and I would have NEVER guessed they liked me that much!! ha-ha

The weather here is amazing! I am so glad I am on my mission here and NOT Michigan! ha-ha there is barely any snow, but you still get the seasons. you should definitely look into moving here!

That's awesome that you are going to Amber's reception. Tell her I say "Hello", she sent me an announcement which was really nice.

We were supposed to go to Mesa Verde today, but the elders were being lame and they were "too stressed" and didn't want to go! :-( so I guess I will have to come back, but I am the type of person to make things happen and some people just give up (or they don't really want to go) but oh well! at least I'm just in Colorado... not too far from home!

well I am going down to Farmington (once again) to stay the night tonight and then I get to ride the transfer van down to Albuquerque tomorrow! Wahoo... should be exciting :-)

I love you all sooooooo sooooooo sooooo much!!! Mom, keep the TiVo going, I am sure I will have a lot to catch up on when I get home! love ya xoxo

Sister Lizzie Marchant