"I'm afraid of ghosts. And sheets with holes in them. And regular sheets. I'm a hufflepuff."

This week's shout out goes out to the moldy pumpkin we just threw away. Gross. 

So I got a new companion, Sister Olsen. She's kind of insane but in a good way, not the bad way. At least thus far. She's been in San Fran for the past 10 months, so I guess the crazy kinda rubs off on you eh haha no, but seriously. She's great. We work pretty hard and it's just. Good. Great. Awesome. 

Tuesday I dropped off Sister Slaughter at the mission home and I had a 3 hour wait period. So I hitched a ride with the Visitor Center sisters. Actually they recruited me to help them move. So I got to visit Berkeley! It seems really cool. I wanna go there. But anyways, we're moving all this stuff. Like food, clothes, like who knew sisters needed that much. Well, we do. We get to the door, and the door is locked. So the sister pulls out the key to open the door, and nothing. There we are in the middle of Berkeley with like 5 suitcases and a locked door. Here's where the story gets good. I'm with 2 other sisters, and one of them pulls out a screwdriver. First of all, wow. I wouldn't think to carry around a screwdriver, but I guess it's totally necessary. And she pulls all the screws out and nothing even happened. So I'm like here let me use this bobby pin. I had it all ready but I didn't have enough leverage and torque to twist it. So, if anyone wants to send me a lock picking kit, feel free. But yeah, just picture 2 sister missionaries at a pink house trying to jiggle the door with a credit card and a bobby pin, and the other sister missionary making calls. 

Met this lady on the street and she had this mega brain tumor and she's a walking miracle. She also has a pet goat. But she really believes in Christ and we are going to start teaching her! Hopefully. We are going to go back and rake leaves and such and then try and teach her. She's so nice. Her and her fiance got us some soda and just talked to us for a really long time. 

We got to go to this really cool choir concert that basically all the youth in the ward were in. They did a fantastic job. Monte Vista. They are traveling all over Europe this summer, lucky dogs. They really did a great job though, it felt like. Actually hold on. Maybe I will commission them to follow us around and sing. This is it- this is the choir I've been looking for to follow us around. Just kidding. Sort of. But it was a really great concert though! Obviously it was boring like most are, but. 

Trunk or Treat this week! Man I miss Pretty Little Liars. I was so stoked when that family dressed up as them. Also, Becca came dressed as the lady joker from a comic book. She's so creative. And then there's Bella, the ex-con. She's the cutest. The other day in church we offered her a brownie and she kind of looked happy enough to cry. And then there's the angel and the devil. That's probably my favorite this week. I was going to have them sit on my shoulders, but they said it'd be a bad idea. The one who dressed up as a devil is Sarah. She's like my favorite, I love her haha. Then the angel is her friend Erin, who just moved here from Jersey. God bless her. She said her brother lives in Bryn Mawr and I was like "OH MY GOSH ITS SO GOOD TO HEAR THAT" I don't really know, it's weird but you kind of miss things like that when you're away from them for so long. So we talked about the shore and the east coast and I was just really happy afterwards. It's such a small thing but I'm so grateful

Speaking of gratitude, Thanksgiving is coming up! There's so much to be grateful for. But we were in young women's yesterday and they were talking about it and it really is important. No matter what, being grateful will make everything better. So I'm too lazy to count out how many letters are in the alphabet and I'm not sure when Thanksgiving is, but I would like to extend a challenge to all of you. If you will start today at the beginning of the alphabet and list all the things you're grateful for starting with that letter and go until Thanksgiving (So like, start today and do the letter A, then tomorrow do B, and so forth), I can promise that you will be happier. God blesses us a lot more than we are aware. And I'm so grateful for everything I've got. 

Love you all! You're the toppings to my pizza. 

Love,

Sister Kwan

A Farewell to Arms (because they've been slaughtered)

Sister Slaughter is having a transfer tomorrow!

This week's shout out goes out to Sister Slaughter. Hopefully we've opened your eyes enough to prepare you for San Fran haha lucky dog. 

Dang what even happened this week.. We lit off fireworks the other night. Totally illegal in this area hahaha they were just small ones. 

Hmmm........

Oh dude we set up and worked a 60th anniversary party for 60+ people. Insanity. The set up was normal, just like 10 tables and 60 chairs, no big deal. I guess they hadn't mowed the lawn, so the daughter's out there with a pair of scissors. It was hilarious haha We used GLASS PLATES with CHILDREN. I was like "Wait. Wait wait wait." I'm surprised none of them were broken. But holy dish pile. And the people were all... not in their prime anymore so we had to escort a couple and get them food. It was a very good party. Great food, great people. 

Carving pumpkin day on Preparation day!

Sister Chen

            
We got to teach 2 first discussion this week! In one day! And we didn't have dinner! The sacrifices we make, goodness. We taught Becca, who's 14, and a member of our ward's niece and nephew. 

We were going to teach Tallia, who's 9, but... she's a bit of a. She's basically gotten everything she's ever wanted and doesn't need anything else. Or so she thinks. But yeah things will be interesting. 

I gave a training the other day! I taught on listening. Which is crucial to just about everything. If you aren't listening to people, you should be listening to the spirit. But I think it went really well. I think we all learned a lot. If not, we learned not to let me teach hahaha

 Sister Lerubwara

My companion's pumpkin

We got to teach primary, I forgot how cute kids are. There's only 13 of them, but still. We talked about missionary work and their first question was "Why can't you go swimming" I don't really know why. I think Satan might have power over the water or something, I don't know

This week's thought comes from a song. It goes something like this "Regrets collect like old friends, here to relive our darkest moments" and well. It's true. Sometimes our lives get crazy, and we all make too many mistakes. But we shouldn't let them get to us. We just gotta keep our heads up and let the Lord carry our burdens so we don't have to. And it's definitely not easy, our biggest mistakes are the hardest to let go of. But it's possible. 

Keep on rollin (like a stone)

Love

Sister Kwan

The Chanting's Back Pt. 1

This week's shout out goes out to

What an area this is. To be completely honest, I don't really want to leave. Me and Sister Slaughter are doing great. It's actually kind of weird that you can live 4 months with a person and not totally hate them by the end of it. It's different. And it's weird because we actually had a really really slow week. Appointments dropping faster than this state into the Pacific Ocean, mean people behind doors, trying to find people to teach and finding no one. And yet. I sleep pretty well at night. But I think that's because I've done everything I can and I've worked hard, so I'm grateful. 

I'm 95% sure we found Kristie Yamagutchi's house. She's got the most gorgeous view. And she drives a BMW convertible. Smart woman. 

We had exchanges this week! Me and Sister Ierubwara ran around knocking doors. All day, erryday. It's the life. All our appointments fell through that day haha but there was this one door we were super grateful for. He didn't have interest in the church, but he really liked the "Witnesses of Christ" card we gave him. He was blind though, but I'm sure he will feel the Spirit. Then he gave us these interesting drinks. With no sugar or calories or protein or.. anything.We still have no idea what it was haha but we were super grateful. We will have to go back sometime. 

I don't remember if I ever wrote about this, but the other week there was the MASSIVE black widow. I didn't want to step on it because. Ew nasty. So the girl runs inside her house and comes out with a freaking blow torch. It died. 

Remember the girl who sang with us in Sacrament meeting? Well, she came to Young Women in Excellence last night and wants to get more involved! I mean, she told us that she came 50% for food and 50% for us. Not bad. I think she is going to be great. She committed to reading the Book of Mormon and she WANTS to know that it's true. It's insane. The Lord has blessed us so much. Honestly, she loves us though. Transfers are coming up and I've got an iffy feeling in my stomach. Not enough to make me nervous, but a little uneasy. 

The Broby's and our mustaches! :D

A tree fell on Glendoris's car and she had a bill she needed to pay on the dashboard so here come the missionaries. I'm like standing there in a skirt with my arm in the car, and Sister Slaughter's got a metal broom to hold up all the broken glass. Tempered glass still shatters. So I mean, yes, I got cut. But they aren't Celestial Kingdom worthy, they're just minor cuts. 

My companion's pumpkin

Pictures from this week... a member invited us over to celebrate her son's birthday! He's in Berlin on a mission. And my district! And carving pumpkins! Guess which one's mine... And 'staches. 

You all are cooler than the flipside of my pillow. Rock on. 

Love,

Sister Kwan

Guess which one's mine... And 'staches.

Sis. Chen made 'Scary Potter'

All Roads They Lead To Here

This weeks shout out goes out to my dad. Happy birthday! Love you! Don't spend too much time writing poetry. 

It was a really odd week. I had two and a third exchanges. Two 24 hour exchanges and one 8 hour exchange. The 8 hour one was a trio with Sister Evans and Sister Seegmiller. They're pretty cool. We just ran around trying to find people, no big deal. The other two... I don't even know where to begin. They're the "rebellious" companionship in our area. Super sweet, both of them. But we learned that one of them isn't actually rebellious haha

So the first exchange with the actually rebellious one was interesting. We stumbled upon a patch of strawberries and she was like "YES" so she started eating them and offered some to me and the other sisters. It was kind of like Genesis 3:6. Then one of the sisters notices there were worms on some of them. And then she opens one and they're IN the strawberries too. Not even in a foreign country and I can still manage to get worms. Actually I'm not sick. I think. But we also did service for our recycling champion. Or I did. I was leveling her lawn to help make steps. 

The second exchange, we decided unconsciously to stay up late. At least for missionaries who need to be up at 6:30 AM. We had a very very good talk. She's the greatest. She's had an interesting life. And I mean, everyone has, but not everyone tells you their whole life story. Or some crucial parts in it. It was a good day. We were tired, but we got to talk to a lot of people. 

We were at a member's house yesterday. They've had this platter of nuts on their table... probably since before we got here. Sister Slaughter opened up a walnut, and I wanted to try to so I picked up this thing that kind of looked like a hazelnut. And then I was like "Wait this might be an acorn. Are those poisonous?" And I still have no idea if that's true or not. But I opened it and ate it and it was RANCID. It tasted so nasty. Nothing's ever made me feel that sick to my stomach. I choked it down. But the taste was in my mouth all night. Gross.  

Azadeh is rocking on. She's so great. Sister Slaughter asked her if she had read and prayed to know that the Book of Mormon is true, and she says, "Honestly, no. But why should I doubt it?" And that was one of those moments where I wish I had a Southern Baptist choir following us around all day. With like streamers and fireworks and cannons. Because it was a glorious moment. And if we were anywhere else and I wasn't a missionary, I would've jumped up and started dancing and stuff. But anyways. 

Wasn't General Conference great? It was. It really was. One of the things I REALLY liked was when Elder Holland said "If the bitter cup doesn't pass, drink it and wait for better days." Isn't that just so. Ugh words. But lets get real for a second. Life isn't great all the time. In fact, most of the time, it sucks. And what do we have to do? We have to deal with it. And we are promised better days, it's just a matter of when. And that's exactly what he's saying. D&C 121 is one of my favorite chapters, but my least favorite thing is when the Lord says "thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment." And I'm like "HOW LONG MUST THIS LAST????" So. Impatient. But in the perspective of forever, 100 years is nothing. I've got a lot of work to do. But. I've got a lifetime of knowledge. Hahahahaha I hope someone gets that. 

Hope you all have the best weeks ever!

Love
Sister Kwan