Three Months, Two Power Outages, One Temple Tour - Week 14

Hello Everyone!

Well, we thought we were done with all the power outages but turns out... we are still in the dark.  We have had two power outages this week and we are currently in one right now. It definitely makes things exciting and it's fun having lessons with flashlights and candles! 

Also, I hit my three month mark this past week! It's crazy to think how fast time flies out here! Also, this is the last week of the transfer so we find out on Saturday if Sister Durfee and I are staying or going. I don't even know what to expect anymore with transfers... so who knows what will happen!

Funny Story Time: I honestly can't think of anything funny at this moment... I promise that we are actually hilarious (I think).

This Week's Highlights:

- We were able to go on a temple tour with our friend Evan on Tuesday! IT WAS AMAZING! The Spirit was so strong the entire time and we could all feel it! We walked around the outside of the Sacramento Temple and we discussed all the different rooms and ordinances that happen in the temple. Then we got to go into the temple and sit in the waiting room. I asked Evan what he was feeling and he said, "I'm just in complete awe!" We asked him if he would like the temple to be a part of his life and he said yes! He wants the temple to be in his future, he just needs to work on some things in his life to get there! The temple is so amazing and we are so blessed to have the House of the Lord so close to us! The temple can change your life! 

- I got to go back to Placerville for a day for exchanges! It was so much fun to get to be back in my old area! Hermana Udall and I had a lesson with Dorothy! It was so good to see Dorothy again and she gave me a giant hug! The best part though was when she told us that she had told her daughter that she is going to join the latter-day saints' church! She wants to be baptized and go to the temple! Dorothy is so amazing!

- Because of the power outages, I got to experience my first sacrament meeting in the dark! Okay... it wasn't all the way dark, we had a couple of lights. But the microphone and the heater weren't on which made things very exciting, especially since it was testimony meeting! However, even with the power being off, it was one of the most powerful testimony meetings I have ever been to. Many people testified about the temple and how it has changed their lives.  The Spirit in that dim chapel was absolutely incredible! It made me realize that Christ truly is the only light we need in our lives!

I am super excited for tomorrow because our zone gets to do a session in the temple! Missionaries here only go to the temple twice a year and the day is finally here! We are so pumped for tomorrow... I may or may not be jumping off the walls.  I love the temple with all my heart! It has not only brought me closer to my Father in Heaven, it has brought me closer to my family. The temple has the ability to bring us peace and comfort that can't be found anywhere else on earth! It truly is the house of the Lord! I BEG of you all to not take the temple for granted! If you haven't gone in a while, schedule a time THIS WEEK to go! It is worth every sacrifice to be safe in the house of the Lord and to be serving our family! The temple is the best!

I love you all so much and you are all in my thoughts and prayers!  Have a wonderful week!

Lots of love

Sister Ferrin 

1- We found this adorable baby pineapple at the store

2- Am I... a tree hugger? The world will never know

3- We take roleplays very seriously

4- The view from our truck on the way to appointments. Yep. There are a lot of trees here. (And I haven't hugged them all yet!)

Zone Conference, Service Projects, and Lehi's Daughters - Week 13

Hello Everyone!

This week was a busy one! The work is really picking up in our two wards and our teaching pool had definitely grown!  We are so excited to have more friends to teach and that our schedule is getting busier and busier!  It gets kind of exciting out here in the mountains, especially now that it gets dark around 7pm.  And when it gets dark... it gets REAL DARK.  I love looking up into the night sky and seeing the Milky Way which is possible since we don't have very many city lights.  It is so beautiful!  However, another thing the dark brings is a lot of weirdos.  Our president has even asked us to not be knocking on doors after it gets dark and if our plans fall through, to go home and do phone work.  We try really hard to be a safe as possible, plus we do have some pepper spray and pocket knives.  It's always an adventure and we love spoopy season!

Funny Story Time:  I have been dubbed killer of the spiders... which is funny because I hate spiders.  The only reason I get this title is because Sister Durfee hates them even more than I do.  Sometimes we catch little ones running around the floor of our apartment, so I promptly hit them repeatedly with our tin foil box.  It's real effective.    

Highlights:

- We had Zone Conference on Wednesday! It was really fantastic and inspiring!  Our zone actually did a special musical number.  We sang I Need Thee Every Hour.  I got to sing with one of the Elders in a duet for part of the song, which was a lot of fun (also super nerve-wracking).  We also had to get flu shots at Zone Conference... which was also kind of nerve-wracking.  One thing that stood out to me the most at Zone Conference was how to improve our prayers.  We talked about how prayer should be like you are actually talking to a person who cares and wants to know about your day.  God wants to hear from all his children!  He loves us all and answers prayers!   

- We got to do two big service projects as a zone the past few weeks. The first was in a town called Coloma at the Coloma State Park (where they discovered gold in the 1800s). We got to help set up tents and other items for their annual reenactments. We also got to learn a lot about the Mormon Battalion and their role in settling Northern California. It was super cool! The second service project we did as a zone was up in Georgetown. We helped split and stack a ton of wood for the members who aren't able to do it themselves. We stacked wood for about 4 hours and needless to say, we were very sore the next day. No regrets though and now I know how to stack wood! 

- We got to participate in the Multi-Ward Trunk or Treat in our area!  We decided that as missionaries, we would join the bandwagon and decorate our trunk too! Being inspired by the new Book of Mormon Videos, we decided to decorate with the theme of: "And My Father Dwelt in a Tent". We set up a makeshift tent in our truck with a fake campfire. We also made some pretty fancy looking props! The Hermanas joined with us and we called ourselves the "daughters of Lehi". At the ward party, everyone thought our trunk was amazing and we ended up winning two different prizes! 

- We had Zone P-day today which was a lot of fun! We made waffles and played a bunch of Minute to Win It games. We did apple bobbing which ended up being a lot more intense than anyone thought! One Elder ended up cutting his mouth  and bleeding. I was really hesitant at first to stick my face in the nasty water bucket, but I did it anyways and ended up winning the whole apple bobbing competition. Good times!

- Sister Durfee and I had some really great lessons with our friends this week! We had a lesson with Evan and he had even read from the Book of Mormon beforehand which is amazing! We introduced him to temples and now we have a temple tour scheduled with him for tomorrow! We had a mini lesson with a woman we met a week ago named Jan. Jan is super sweet and has been through some really hard times over the past few years. She has had a lot of loved ones pass away. We got to share a little bit about the plan of salvation with her and we sang to her Be Still My Soul. We were all a little teary-eyed after talking with her and there was such a sweet spirit! She too had read from the Book of Mormon! Also, good news! Mary's mom had her baby so we will be able to begin teaching Mary really soon! God is so good!

Well, I love you all and I hope you are all doing great! You are all in my prayers and I appreciate all of the love and support you have shown me and my family! I hope you have an amazing day and a wonderful week!

Lots of Love,

Sister Ferrin

Mailing Info:

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks CA 95628

United States

Pictures of the week!

1- Zone Selfie at Zone Conference 

2- Sister Durfee and Me with our truck and costumes at the Multi-Ward Truck or Treat

3- Our handmade Trunk or Treat props

4- The view on our walk one morning

5- Zone P-day!

6- Zone P-day (pt. 2)

7- Zone Service Day at Coloma State Park

8- The Daughters of Lehi!

Picture from Hermana Lewis:

"And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land" - Week 12

Hello Everyone! (Sorry for the shorter letter, it's been a crazy P-day)

Well, this week in good ole' California, the big electric company here decided to turn off all the power in our area for about 5 days.  Which meant no water, heat, or light.  Long story short, Sister Durfee and I ended up moving around a lot during this week.  We stayed at three different houses throughout the whole ordeal. (don't worry, we saved all our frozen food... especially the ice cream)  It was actually kind of cool because the power outages led to us making two new friends and meeting two amazing people with potential!  The whole thing reminded me that even in the dark, we can find light through the Savior and His gospel!

Well, besides the lights being off, we had some really awesome lessons and visits this week!  We met with our friend Evan twice this week and we had some really great lessons on the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation!  Now we are just trying to get him to come to church.  Hopefully this Sunday, he will be able to come!  We also had a great lesson with a woman named Anna!  She is such an amazing and strong lady who has been through A LOT.  We introduced the Book of Mormon to her and testified that by reading the Book of Mormon, she and her children would gain more peace and happiness!  The Spirit was so strong and now she wants to bring her children to church!  Also, if you remember Mary from last email... we got to check up on her and she has been reading the Book of Mormon!  It was so exciting!  Also, her mom is having her baby this week so we will be able to teach her really soon!  

I hope you are all doing really well especially as it gets colder!  If I had to ask anything from you, it would be to keep Evan, Anna, and Mary in your prayers.  They need all the love and prayers they can get!  That would mean so much to me!  I love you all so much!  

Lots of love,

Sister Ferrin

Mailing Info:

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks CA 95628

United States

      

Picture of the week:

1- Us and our truck full of our stuff as we moved around for the third time!

Two more pictures from her previous companion, Hermana Lewis, in one of their moves this week.

Attachments area

Less WiFi, More Nephi! - Week 11

Hello Everyone!

Boy!  What an amazing and once again crazy week!  General Conference was FANTASTIC!  If you haven't been able to watch all the sessions, including the Women's Session, then I strongly encourage you to go back and watch/listen to them all.  So inspiring and uplifting!  I would be lying if I said that I didn't cry when they announced a temple in Orem, Utah. We are so blessed to have a living prophet and apostles on the earth today!  

Funny Story Time:  We have the best members!  We were discussing with a lady in our ward about how we don't have a blender in our apartment after church the other day.  Another member had overheard our conversation, and as we were about to leave, he came up to us and said that he and his wife had an extra blender and that we could come pick it up!  So now Sister Durfee and I have a blender to make smoothies and milkshakes with!   

Highlights: 

- Some back story first.  On my first night of the transfer, we were at the church when we were introduced to a young woman who we will call Mary.  Mary had been going to Young Women's for a while and had gone to church a few times.  She really loves going to Young Women's and the weekday activities!  Her parents are less active members but she had never been baptized.  The youth that week were going on a temple trip and Mary was sad because she wasn't able to go.  On the evening of the temple trip, we went and stopped by Mary's house.  We had a great visit with her and her mom.  Her mom, who is expecting, went to go lie down.  We talked with Mary about Young Women's and the temple trip.  We asked her if she wanted to go to the temple and she said Yes!  We asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she said YES!  We asked her if she wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon and she was super excited!  We told her that we would need her parents' permission in order to teach her the lessons and from down the hall her mom yelled, "Yes, you can be taught the lessons and be baptized!"  It was such an amazing miracle and we are so excited to get to work with Mary!  We just have to wait until her mom gives birth before we can start the lessons but it should be happening within the next week or two! God is so good!

-  (Did you know you are breaking the Word of Wisdom?  Because you are Smoking!)  We had quite a lot of smoke this week.  They have been managing a lot of prescribed fires near our area which has caused A LOT of smoke to settle around where we live.  The first night of the prescribed fires (Thursday), the smoke was super bad and it was really hard to breath in our apartment.  Sister Durfee and I ended up calling our mission president who gave us permission to drive down to Placerville and bunk with the Hermanas.  It was fun getting to have a "sleep over" in my old apartment.  The smoke started to dissipate and we were able to sleep in our apartment the next night.   

- We made a new friend!  (By the way, as missionaries, we have tried to stop using the term "investigator" so now we call anyone who is wanting to learn more about the gospel our friends.) Evan has a lot of questions about the gospel, the Plan of Salvation, and the Book of Mormon!  Sister Durfee and I testified about how when we have questions, we are able to go straight to the source (the Lord) for answers!  He mentioned that he has always been impressed by members of the church and how they always seem happier, healthier, and more successful.  I asked him if that would be something he'd want for his own life and he said Absolutely!  We are going to stop by tomorrow and have a lesson with him!

- One thing that Camino and Pleasant Valley is known for is having giant orchards.  So each year in the fall, all the different orchards have open markets and activities!  For P-day today, we went to an orchard named Boa Vista, which was so much fun!  We bought lots of apples, pears, strawberries, grapes, and avocados!  Sister Durfee and I also might have indulged ourselves on a couple of apple cider doughnuts, apple turnovers, and apple juice.  BEST APPLE CIDER DOUGHNUTS EVER!

  

We have had a great week!  I learned that one of my favorite things to do is sing to members and our friends!  Sister Durfee and I have started singing a hymn or a primary song before every lesson and it has made a huge difference!  It brings the Spirit and helps to soften the hearts of those we are teaching!  One of my favorite songs to sing is I Need Thee Every Hour.  I love the verse that says,

I need thee every hour

in joy or pain.

Come quickly and abide,

or life is vain.

I need thee, oh, I need thee;

Every hour I need thee! 

Oh, bless me now, my Savior;

I come to thee!

 

Such powerful words!  We all need the Savior so much!  He is everything!  Words cannot even describe how grateful I am for our Savior and Redeemer!  I KNOW HE LIVES.  I know He loves all of us.  He is there for you, with his arms outstretched.  He has never left your side and He never will!  3 Nephi 9:13-14

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!  You are all in my thoughts and prayers!

Lots of love,

Sister Ferrin

   

Mailing Info:

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks CA 95628

United States

Pictures of the Week!

1 - We got to sweep off the porch of one of our friends who needed help

2 - We have probably too much fun

3 - I LOVE FALL!  Also, Boa Vista is amazing!

4 - Thank you members for our awesome blender, it makes great smoothies

5 - This is Sister Durfee.  She is the bestest!  What a queen!

The New and Improved Christmas Caroling! - Week 10

Emmaline Ferrin	Mon, Sep 30, 4:16 PM (2 days ago)
to me, bcc: me

Hello Everyone!!!

Well, I've made it through my first week in the Camino and Pleasant Valley areas!  It's always an adventure up where we are.  We live in the mountains, are surrounded by pine trees, and drive a giant white truck.  The area we cover is HUGE!  It takes 30 minutes to an hour just to get to the different teaching appointments.  Sister Durfee and I have a good time though.  We laugh, tell stories, listen to EFY music, and try not to hit deer.  We are expected to get some snow pretty soon, which I'm excited for, but no one else in California is.  I guess the snow up here gets pretty bad and has the habit of causing the power to shut down.  It's going to be fun!

Funny Story Time: We prompted to stop and knock at this random house on this street we accidentally turned on to one night.  When they opened the door, there were seven men all sitting in a circle having a Bible Study.  They asked us if we wanted to join and we were like, "Of course!"  We couldn't actually go in the house because there wasn't another woman so we just sat on the porch with the door open.  We read out of the New Testament together and they started to ask us a lot of questions about what we believe.  Long story short, they asked us to pray to know if our church was the Lord's true church.  We told them we would but immediately said, "We'll do that but only if you are willing to do the same about the Book of Mormon."  So we turned it back on them and left them with a Book of Mormon!  I'm pretty sure that was the last thing they were expecting to happen!  Haha, it was great!   

Highlights:

-  I had my first baptism!  Our friend named Shira was baptized on Saturday!  She had been taking the lessons from missionaries for a couple of years and she finally accepted the invitation to be baptized!  She is super awesome and has a very strong desire to be sealed with her husband in the temple!  We are so proud of her and the step she took forward on the covenant path!  The baptism was very touching and beautiful.  We were able to skype Shira's father-in-law (who is a member) in from Idaho and he gave a talk on Baptism.  The Spirit was so strong and we were all pretty much in tears as he spoke.  Another thing that was cool about the baptism was that the Hermanas from Placerville were able to bring Dorothy and she got to watch the baptism!  When I asked her about it, she told me that she loved the Spirit and the love that she could feel during the ordinance!  So many tender mercies!

- Sister Durfee and I came up with a great idea to help motivate the members of the ward to watch this upcoming General Conference.  Instead of Christmas Caroling, we go Conference Caroling!  We stop at member's houses and when they open the door, we sing the last verse and chorus of the primary song Follow the Prophet.  Then we invite them to watch General Conference with their families!  The ward members love it and it helps us as missionaries to get to know the members of our wards better!

-  One of my favorite things to do is to visit those we are teaching and sing hymns to them on Sundays.  We got to (surprise) visit a lady named Carol, who just got out of surgery, and sing to her.  She really enjoyed us singing to her and wants us to come back again to continue teaching her!  I love how music has the power to soften people's hearts and helps them to feel the Savior's love!  

My invitation for you all this week is to watch General Conference!  We are so blessed to have a living prophet and apostles on the earth today who receive inspiration from the Lord!  I am SO excited for Conference this week!  If I could, I'd Conference Carol to all of you too!  But instead, I'll just have to invite you all to watch Conference through this email.  As you watch Conference this week, ask the Lord to give you a witness, through the Spirit, that President Nelson is a prophet of God.  I promise that if you sincerely ask, the Lord will testify to you of his chosen prophet and seer!  AND IT WILL BE SO COOL!  Let me know what you enjoyed about Conference and what stood out to you!  I'd love to hear about it!

Have a wonderful day and a great week!

Lots of Love,

Sister Ferrin

Mailing Info:

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks CA 95628

United States

Pictures!

1 -  Me and my new companion Sister Durfee (She is super awesome and from Colorado!)

2 - Our big white truck which we still don't have a name for yet

3 - Shira's Baptism!!!

4 - I found where I belong