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