The Longest Week EVER-EVEr-EVer-Ever-ever...ever...............ever.

This week's shout out goes out to all the kind people who didn't slam their doors. Thank you. 

So I decided to try unconventional finding methods this week. The first one we did, we were trying to find this less active family, and this lady was running around outside with scissors. Totally unsafe. But she told us she was looking for flowers, and dashed off. A couple days later, I was like "Hey! Let's go buy her flowers!" So we did. She was super cool but she really had no desire to learn anything at all... Kind of an atheist. But she was really happy about the flowers! 

Had exchanges and got to go back to Alamo! Woohoo! It was so crazy. But it was really nice because ever since I've left, I've kind of felt like I let them down. I could've done SO much better, but I just didn't know how. And this was my round for redemption and it was sweet. Becca has a baptismal date. We had this AH-mazing meeting with Holly and her son Ryan. We taught super simply to his needs, and he's going to be baptized! It gets better because we decided to show a video, and we both knew exactly which one when we saw it. We played it and boom it was like being hit by a wall of spirit. So good. And we met the crazies, but they're always there. And I got to see Sister Williams again. She's the sweetest. I walk out of the car, and I look at her, and she's already crying. Love her so much haha :) Sister Goddard, who I went on exchanges with, has the million bucks quality. Which basically means that she can make anyone feel like a million bucks. Which is an awesome quality to have, if you ask me. And our teaching was so smooth, it was like butter on ice. Amazing. 

We took Bob to the Visitor's Center, which might have overwhelmed him with the Spirit, but he kind of phased out of church. Like he called us at 11:30 and told us he couldn't come. Super lame. He wouldn't even tell us what happened and we tried to hunt him down, nothing. We are going to meet with him tomorrow, but we have no idea what happened. We have a sinking suspicion that it had something to do with his fried who goes to some Golden Hills church in Brentwood, because they seem to be teaching some Anti-Mormon things. Personal comments on this, but why would you go to church to preach hate? Church is for uplifting. When you tear others down, that doesn't do anything. So why waste your time teaching a class based on false literature just to hate on another church? It just makes no sense. And there's my two cents.

Met Lani, who's inactive but still identifies as Mormon. She is quite the crafty lady. She makes these gorgeous cards and it's like butterflies are literally flying off the page. Incredible. And she agreed to read the Book of Mormon, which was great. She told us she will not go back to church, but I'm sure she will come around eventually. She's very very nice, but she's also very very busy...

And I got pulled over this week... did you know you can't have your hands on the phone while you're driving? Yeah...  Officer Charles was a very nice man and he let me off with a warning. Never been pulled over before, but being pulled over on the mission, man. But also getting off... Holy smooth criminal. What's funny though, is that we were tracting in another neighborhood a couple days later, and he drives by and yells out the window, "No talking on your cell phone while driving!" You know it's a small town when that can happen. 

Sunday was the best! We had SO many people who we don't normally see at church, at church! It was awesome. I got the feeling "shoot I don't know who I should talk to first" and seriously, that's like the best feeling ever. The Lord is working hard and I'm so grateful to be part of it. It's neat because I can feel him using me. Obviously I don't know all the right words to say. But He does, and luckily he trusts me to say them! 

Dann is doing pretty well. He came to church, which was really good, and he seems to be moving along in the gospel. I guess it takes him awhile to process things, so this will require a fair amount of patience, which again, I am working on. When you want to improve things, you don't get zapped with them. You're given events in your life that will eventually get you there. It's funny that way. 

Teaching Beehives and Priests are some of my favorite things to do. So cute! And they're so excited to hear and listen and learn. It makes the job so much easier. We just love hearing their own testimonies and helping them learn more. You can really tell the families that have a firm gospel foundation, and those that don't. And for those that don't, that's probably why we're there. I wish we could get into more homes, but at the current moment, we are pretty full with all these families. It's way good though, I'm super grateful and humbled by this opportunity. 

I'm totally running out of time because this week was so long and we went to the temple today! And I think I have some pictures but I don't even have time to look to see haha but we had a golden investigator fall into our lap. She's so ready to learn and to grow. And I would write about her, but I'll have to remember next week! We taught her a little, and someone brought up a metaphor about funnels. Weird. But totally makes sense. I'll explain next week... double spiritual thought next week! Ahhh there's not enough time. 

Hope you all are doing AH-mazing. Love you all.

Sister Kwan

Californication

This week's shout out goes out to 680. Not "the 680" just 680. But yes, those are highways. And also the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And Ms. Martin, who introduced me to them. And to Lauren, who's serving a mission in Mexico! Woohoo!

I'm going to try and avoid complaining in this letter, because I really don't have it bad- I could be dead, so it's good to be alive... 

Quote of the week:

Mom: "What else can't we drink that's hot?" (In relation to the Word of Wisdom)

Alicia: "Hot sauce!" 

Transfer day. For some reason this never gets easier. Dropped off Sister Park, grabbed some materials, but we still didn't make it out until kind of late. It was kind of an odd exchange because I know I'll see her again like way soon. So we were just like "...ok bye?" And that was that haha and now I'm with Sister Underwood. I think a fair amount of things have changed, but we still have a lot to work on. Not to brag, but since I'm taller and more muscular than Sister Park and Sister Underwood, guess who had to haul all their suitcases? Yeah. Three flights of stairs, with like seven suitcases. Just you know, working out to get back in shape nbd haha

Tons of miracles this week! Bob came to church! I mean, we kind of had to kidnap him. We sent a member over to pick him up and he was like "Oh! Ok." So he was in on the kidnapping too I guess. But he had to leave early, which was kind of lame, but he sat through the two best talks for him- a talk on how to follow Christ, and faith. I was so grateful. He seemed to enjoy himself, but we will ask him how it wenttomorrow. He seemed really happy and he was crying again, which is a good thing :)

Taught about the Millennium in Gospel Principles yesterday. It was... interesting. We have no clue about anything.. so we had a fairly discussion based class, because a lot of people in there have years and years of knowledge. One thing that I really liked about the format that ended up happening, was that we were able to have a very open environment where everyone could ask the questions that were clouding their mind. I thought it was really neat, I enjoyed it. That's the kind of environment we should have all the time so that people will feel comfortable asking questions!

Dann finally acknowledged that he needed to know the Book of Mormon was true before he could progress. Up until this point, he has just flat out refused to be baptized, but he said he'd consider it this time. I think his heart is in the right place, but he needs to get his mind there too. It's almost hindering him, because he wants to know EVERYTHING. We don't even know everything. And even when we teach it to him, he refuses to accept what we say. So that's kind of a bummer, but we are working on it. 

We were able to teach in Young Women's on Sunday too (we were basically teaching all day...) and we taught with the Elders. It's interesting, because they totally teach different from Sisters. Anyways, it was a very powerful lesson. The girls didn't talk much, and a leader said that it's because they just don't talk. But the lesson was on "Who am I, and who will I become?" And we were really able to tie that in with the Restoration, which was awesome. I'm 100% positive that we need to start working more with the youth. Be it in them inviting their friends, or even just strengthening their testimony, it's so important. I wish I'd had a little more support as a youth, but what I did have was able to carry me to... a mission I guess. Lots of tender mercies, let me tell you. I challenged them to read the scriptures before they sent texts off or did anything they really cared about, so we'll see how that goes :) 

Everyone keeps talking to us about the drought. I heard that California officially declared itself in a drought, so I guess we might be rationing water soon. I guess I never considered that we would run out of water. But the big thing is that Southern California, or SoCal, doesn't have to ration at all, but NorCal does. Which is interesting and kind of lame, but we will see what happens. It's a good thing I have body spray, because I guess I might not be showering as frequently hahaha

This week's goal has been to meet all the members in the ward. Every. Single. One. Which has been a hard task considering there's so many, but I think they are able to trust us, which is very very good. Gotta work hard together :) 

Helped this super less active, Annette, move. She is honestly the sweetest. She had so much ward support and she was crying, and I guess she is going through a divorce, which must've been super hard. We loaded a bunch of boxes into trucks and trailers since the moving van decided not to come and we loaded it and drove it to storage. Me and Sister Underwood stayed back to house sit since there were some rather heavy things left outside that no one wanted to move back inside, and it's a good thing we did. Someone asked if we were having a garage sale and we were like "..nope" so we camped out and read scriptures and such outside. It was a wonderful 72 degrees. 

This week's thought is this:

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” 

And I think with all things in life, you wish you could've known that sooner, applied it sooner. And that doesn't mean you can't start now, because it's better that you start it now rather than never at all. As long as we're changing to try and be better people, that's all God asks. We don't need to be automatically perfect, we just need to try a little harder everyday. One of my favorite quotes is "Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Love you all and hope the best for each of you :)

Sister Kwan

California Casual

This week's shout out goes out to Haagen-Dazs. Thank goodness for your white chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream. 

So we taught our Bishop's family on Monday, and his wife goes, "What do you want for dinner on the 8th?" and I was like "What ever you want to make is good!" And then she grins and says, "I know your secret, tell me!" She got me good. So we had spaghetti and meatballs for my birthday dinner, followed by a huge sundae. It was pretty awesome haha but yes, I'm 20.. it sure doesn't feel like it. I don't think birthdays really matter, because none of this is about me. It's about something bigger than all of us, and I don't think there's anything I'd rather be doing right now. I did, however, completely own one of those claw stuffed animal machines. In 6 minutes, with $3, I got 4 stuffed animals. Booyah. 

Got to be with Sister Park for her first door slam! I'm surprised we made it this far without one. It was like this:

Him: Are you Mormon?

Us: Yeah...

Him: You're not welcome, she doesn't live here, now go away. 

I guess he wasn't too happy that day... 

We visited Carol, who is a less active. She's hilarious. She warned us of the dangers of San Francisco and was telling us about "California Casual." Apparently only the rich people here wear suits. Or I guess the missionaries, but that begs the question of what everyone else is wearing. She very quickly informed us it's usually polo shirts or dress shirts and ties, but it could also include nothing. I started laughing. Can you imagine walking into work and your co-worker walks in naked? Unbelievable. She considered coming to church this week though! She's getting there. I think we'll get her to come at least once before I leave.

Speaking of leaving, Sister Park is headed down to San Ramon 1st to be in a trio/trilogy. Guess who my companion is? Sister Underwood. It's going to be interesting. I think we've both probably grown a lot so we are going to rock this. 

We got Bob to come out to Why I Believe. It was so awesome. He cancelled on us, and I sort of yelled at him as kindly as possible (still working on patience) and promised him blessings, and then Sister Park played the transfer card. Then he called us back later and said he'd go haha. He really felt the spirit. And we found out he kind of gets mad at God a lot for not giving him back his left arm, so we took him to the visitor's center. He sat in front of the Christus for a good 10 minutes. And he was crying. He's so ready to be baptized, he just needs to come to church. My goal is to get him to church and hopefully in the font this transfer. We can do it. And he's right there, we just have to... push a little. 

Met Jason, who's very into the Bible. He knows A TON. It's insane, but you can tell he doesn't have much faith. He knows it, but he doesn't believe it. Which is very different. He has a couple pages of teaching records from missionaries, but I figure why not try him again? Everyone deserves a second/tenth/hundredth chance. He's really nice, but he really likes to talk. He knows SO much. It was neat though, because I said I'd love to learn more from him and he said he'd love to learn more from us. Score one for us :) 

Here's another story on how I know everything happens for a reason. So I really had to pee and it's 7 and it's dark out and everyone hates when we knock on the doors. We're cruising these streets called "The State Streets" because they're all named after states, and here we are on Indiana, and I go "Hey a member lives there! Let's go!" Sister Espinoza is so awesome. Her door is always open as long as she's home. So she let us in and it was the best. It gets better, because she referred us to her neighbor next door, who was actually home for once. She wasn't really interested, BUT she had a vacuum outside. Which we needed. Double blessings! Woohoo!

Jeff and Joan are the best. They're like grandparents. We came over on a really really cold day and they invited us in for hot chocolate and it was really just. Nice. We are so blessed. They are so sweet. As for the gospel, they kind of don't do anything. I'm not really sure why, but I still have an inkling that she's reading it without telling us. 

Thus ends another transfer. At the end of this next transfer, I will basically be at 9 months. Wow. This week we, as a companionship, have been working on diligence. And working hard... is hard. But we're promised that if we do it, we will have no regrets. Which is kind of what I want. The last thing I want, is to have wasted 18 months of my life, doing nothing. And this is the Lord's time, it's not mine. Just gotta work as hard as I can, and hope it's the best. And... that's all I've got

Love you all :)

Sister Kwan

-Insert Generic New Year Statement Here-

This week's shout out goes out to... me. I've lost the ability to age, so I will be 19 forever. Darn. 

New Year's Eve. I loved Monsters University. But I loved Despicable Me 2 more. For sure. I was looking forward to it so much. The thing is, I haven't seen a movie in 6 months. Everything was HILARIOUS. And it wasn't just me. I think the fact that we've all been deprived of movies for at least 6 weeks helped a little. However, Despicable Me 2 was probably really inappropriate for missionaries. Romantically wise. Oh man but I loved it. So great. 

Went and visited a 95 year old lady. She was so sweet, she kept telling us about the ladies (on the TV) that were singing with us. And I've never really done this, but she asked me to play guitar and sing for her. It was an odd moment, I never thought I'd be serenading a 95 year old woman, but hey, I think she liked it. Or at least she didn't hate it haha but it was a 12 string guitar. Way cool. 

We had a lesson with one of our 16 year old members and we decided to do the law of chastity. It went something like this:

Me: So what IS the law of chastity?

Him: It's uh.. not doing the.. staying away from the... not touch... uh... 

Me: Ha.. yeah something like that, it's actually...

It was so funny. I felt so bad for him but I think it was a good experience for him. I think. 

We had a really tender moment with one of the families in our ward. He's 18 and decided not to join the military so he could go on a mission! But a lot of really powerful testimonies were born. Beared. I don't know. But it was really great. He was telling us about how great of an example we were and that we actually inspired him to go, and it was so tender. It was tangible evidence of the work we were doing and some real time impact. It was so awesome. 

Ran into a less active who was out smoking on her porch. She's from Missourah. She hasn't been to church in years because people wouldn't answer her questions and men and the priesthood, but I think we are on the right track to bringing her back. She loves us, which is always a good thing. She seemed to really consider her options, so that's a plus. 

We spent our New Year's... serving! Yay! Haha we actually started with dodgeball and McDonald's, but that's a different story. We helped this lady, who's basically a hoarder, clean out her house. She kept trying to give us money, but we were like "No! We can't take that!" and she thought we were weird. We saw a bunch of trash on the road, and we started picking it up, and this guy came out and helped us. Turns out, he's married to one of our less actives! It gets better, because they blessed their baby in church on Sunday. This baby came in rocking a white tux. Booyah. And his name was. Wait for it. Donald. Danger. Diaz. But it was way cool that we actually met this guy and he just happened to show up at church. 

Our focus family got married. Surprise! We walk into the chapel to teach a lesson, and there's a bunch of people setting up. I was kidding, but I go, "What, is there a wedding or something going on?" And they're like "Yeah! Didn't you know?" And we've been teaching this family for months. We should've known really... But, it was a nice wedding. They seem really happy, and they're preparing to get sealed in a year! Woohoo! 

Our less active spent half an hour telling us about mermaids. I always knew they were real, but I guess there's a boatload of evidence now! I knew it. And it's been an odd week for dinners. We've had some pretty crazy kids. Which has been hilarious, but still. Literally, bodies flying, and strange threats. Wasn't really sure what to make of it. Today however, we played volleyball and soccer and it was kind of life threatening. Which is totally fine haha but we were down in Alamo and I was like "Hey it's warmer." And I see these girls from the first ward, and we make eye contact and I'm like "Hey!" and one of them looked at me like she'd seen a ghost hahaha. Poor kid. Man I love them though, I was in like normal clothes and they were thrown into a minor shock. 

So mid week last week, I decided to work on patience. The Lord sure does work quickly when you least expect it. Our investigator Bob who is golden but refuses to go to church, calls us during Relief Society (we have sacrament the 3rd hour) and says he's too nervous to go to church. I was ready to throw the phone and then drag him to church. I was SO frustrated and my mind was just like flying with insults, but I held it all in until he hung up. I haven't felt that frustrated in awhile haha but I guess investigators bring out the best and the worst... and the Lord knows how to try us, holy cow haha I have a long ways to go. 

I hope you all had a fantastic (and safe) New Years Eve! 

Love you all!

Sister Kwan

What do you say we leave for California...

This week's shout out goes out to the New Year. I will own you. 

What a week. It's been insane and we've got another great one coming up! Woohoo!

So first off, forgot my camera cord again. Not that I'm really taking pictures. But I bought this Taylor Swift perfume set, right? And I open the box, and the perfume bottle is empty. You got me good. I think this is some sort of weird karma for back when I was really intent on selling bottled air on eBay. What goes around comes around... 

This week was a lot of nail polish. Which is weird, but I can't say no. These little girls just really wanted to use their Christmas nail polish on me. So I had my right hand and my left foot painted for awhile. Unfortunately, they weren't really up to mission standards so I had to take it off... It was pretty well done though, only half my finger and half my nail were painted :) 

We went caroling on Christmas Eve! It was super fun. We aren't that fantastic, but we caroled in front of a big crowd of people that were just standing there. They sure got the show of their life haha we stood in front of Mr. Christmas's house, and he changed his name to say that. The house was decked out though, it was really sweet. Then we went to this apartment complex, knocked four doors at once, and started singing. They really really liked it. It was super awesome though, I guess people don't really go caroling anymore, because everyone was telling us about how great it was that we were keeping up tradition. 

Our fridge is full of food. Members are so nice. We have pizza, KFC, a freaking ham, Hawaiian food, basically everything. It's insane. And I took a picture of our fridge and it's chock full of food. But we seriously got a ham. Our investigator gave us a ham. I have no idea. 

Bob is doing really well. Like he's basically ready for baptism only he hasn't come to church at all. He's committed to his friend, but we took him on a tour of the church, which he really liked. He has a hard time walking though, so we are working to over come that with him. He believes all the doctrine and knows it's true! He's golden! But he's also called us a bit depressed a couple times, which is sad because he's struggling. We pray for him every day, and I know he will be supported by the Lord. Our members can see the change that's happened in him, and it's really exciting to be a part of. 

Dann called us up and asked to take us out to lunch. He gave us the ham. It was a really good lunch and he tells us that he is a womanizer. No lie. And I almost started laughing, and he saw it, so I felt so bad but it was just really funny. We had a nice talk about how no matter what we've done, we can be forgiven because God loves us. He likes that. He doesn't really have a background in religion, so everything is basically new, but he loves it. It's really great, he's so willing to learn, but he told us straight up that he doesn't want to be baptized. 

The Risden's, the less active family, are so sweet. They got us gifts for Christmas, and she uses the old school film rolls and used the last one to take a picture of us. So sweet. We've had a lot of success meeting less actives this week. We've been talking to members and asking them for advice, and it's really paid off. I'm so grateful. They have really been taking care of us, and as a result, we have return appointments with families that might potentially come back to church. We are so excited and humbled to have this opportunity! 

Alright, so Christmas day. Skyped the fam, and Ashley and Jenna were there. Punk kids :) It was really good though, my sister is the cutest, and my family is just really funny. We went and spent time with the Lee's, who painted my toenails and we played some board games. Then we went to the Ireland's, who we just kind of sat there and talked a bit. Then we went to the Doman's for dinner, and they are so nice. We went around and shared thoughts about Christ, and it was a really spiritual meeting. Then we went to the Guillen's, and they showed us Just Dance 2014. It's a good thing I can't dance, otherwise... Haha but it was a great Christmas. Probably the first one where I was actually able to reflect on Christ's birth vs other things, so it was really really great. 

This week is New Year's Eve, so we get to watch 2 movies! I haven't watched one in 7 months. 7 MONTHS. It's crazy, but surprisingly I haven't really missed it too much. We are watching Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University. I'm pretty excited haha

As we start making resolutions, I'd like to encourage you all to follow through. Which is probably the hardest thing, but making goals and accomplishing them is the hardest thing in life, but it is the most worthwhile. I know it is. This year has so much in store for each of us, and if we take advantage of it, we will have success. 

Happy New Years. I sure do love you all. 

Love,

Sister Kwan

"So it's December 20th and our air conditioning is on..."

This week's shout out goes out to Jesus Christ. Because duh. 

As of right now, there's 2 days until Christmas, 9 days until New Year's, 16 days until my birthday, and a little under a year until I'm home. Man does time fly. 

Bob has a baptismal date!!!! He's finally putting the pieces together and he wants to feel the spirit 24/7. Once we get him to come to church, everything will just fall into place. I'm so stoked. He's such a sweet guy. We were going to go to the visitor's center with him yesterday, but his family is going to Disneyland for Christmas, so they visited him yesterday. We will get him there though! 

Title. Direct quote from my life. Seriously, I'm outside sweating. And we get in the car, and my companion goes, "Sister. Turn on the air conditioning, I'm DYING." It's December. This is California. Not gonna lie, this is a pretty good deal. Lovin it. 

Jeff and Joan invited us over for lunch. Sweet sweet people. What's funny though, is they invited over some less active members from Martinez. It was interesting. But then she gave us so much food to take home. So nice. I think they're secretly reading the Book of Mormon. And I totally sound ridiculous right now, but I watched her pick it up, and I just know she's reading it. And she bookmarked the chapter on faith that we read about. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. 

It's been an odd week for talking to people on the street. Some lady drove by and snapped a picture of us. Weird. Then we met this guy who was schizophrenic, and we were just like ...back away slowly... just because you have to be super careful. And then we ran into another lady and she was so nice. But she kept telling us all about her car. I very distinctly remember sitting there like, "This woman... she... she's definitely a couple chicken nuggets short of a happy meal." I thought I was just being judgmental, but her neighbor's the relief society president and turns out she's actually certifiably crazy. Figures. Very nice though, we're going to go back and visit with her some time. 

Dann opened his lesson by asking us how many siblings Jesus had. Heck if I know. So we had this really awesome member who just floored him with "This isn't going to get you into heaven" and man am I grateful for her. She tied it into the Restoration really really well, and I'm glad she said the things she did, because I wanted to say things but.. couldn't. We went to the visitor's center with Dann. It's gorgeous, just in case you were wondering. I forgot my camera cord. But we were able to look at the picture's from Christ's life and have him ask questions, which we would answer with the Book of Mormon. He has a lot of questions about the Bible, but he knows the Book of Mormon is true and that reading it will help him understand the Bible better. Booyah. 

Got to go to 12 step this week! Our less active wants to kick the addiction. She's so awesome. She comes out with us all the time. But I love 12 step. This seems really repetitive because I've definitely said this before, but it's so great. It was just really great to hear the stories of people and their struggles and it was awesome. The Lord works in all our lives in such mysterious ways, but He's always there no matter what. 

Guess who I ran into at the visitor's center? Aunt Jeanette. She's not really my aunt, but she was on the phone with my dad. She goes, "He wants to talk to you!" And I was like "Nooo" but it was way cool to run into her. She like raised me. And then I ran into Sister Chen, who's kind of like my crazy aunt. All was good. 

The best part of every Christmas program is the kids. The kids, the kids, the kids. You always have the one kid who's yelling, the kid who's trying really hard to sing perfectly, and then everyone else. And everyone else either falls into "Why am I here" and the miserable people. So so funny. These kids stand up there and you look at them, and they glare back at you. Or you look at one, and she looks like she just got abducted and the church is the UFO. Needless to say, I really enjoyed myself during this program. 

This week's thought is just going to come from my brain... So I consider myself pretty lucky. My family's doing pretty good. My friends are pretty good (when I hear from them). I'm on a mission. For God. I only get slammed doors occasionally. I get fed daily. I mean, what could be better? But lately, just realizing that all this is from God. I mean, I've been feeling pretty dang good. And sometimes, there really is no reason for it. Not that you always need a reason to be happy, but it doesn't hurt to have one. But yeah. Life is good, and I'm so grateful for everything I've got. Especially all you good people. Sure do love you all. 

Merry Christmas :)

Sister Kwan

A Blast From the Past

This week's shout out goes out to vests, or sleeveless cardigans as my mom calls them. I totally look ridiculous, but they're crazy warm. I'll bring 'em back, just wait ;)

So I'm slowly remembering people. And with that, as we go over to their houses, I'm like "Yeah... wait I've been here before" and then the members go "Yeah! We thought we knew you, but the sisters said we'd never met you before so we didn't want you to think we were crazy." I still don't know most of the people in the ward. I can't even remember that I've met them before haha

We had a huge zone conference, which is basically where a bunch of missionaries all gather together and we get to hear from President Meredith and get trained all day. It was great but it's also very spiritually draining. I learned a lot though, and I'm planning on being a better missionary because of it. One great thing that happened though, was there's this lady in the area, who hand stitched a bunch of towels. So there's a patch on the towels, and there's California and a star where our mission is, and then there's "Oakland/San Francisco California Mission" and it was just so awesome that someone would take the time to do all that for us. So so sweet. I don't even want to use the towel. 

The ward had a Relief Society Christmas party, which was nice in that we got to meet a lot of members, and the food was great. We also had a ward Christmas party, which was awesome. We had some less actives show up, and the whole thing was service based. Like people came in, and they were tying quilts, or putting together hygiene kits, or wrapping gifts. There was just such a tender spirit as we stood there watching this all happen. It was kind of overwhelming. All the ward members were so willing to participate, and they didn't care that they weren't going to benefit from them. Then the whole program was really focused on Christ, which was so great. 

We taught Bob this week! He was so so close to coming to church. I know that once he comes to church, he'll feel the spirit and know that it's undeniable. It's just true. But we had two really great lessons with him, and we brought awesome members with us each time. He actually was like "Well, I can tell Sister Park is pretty serious, and Sister Kwan is kind of... Well, she's the kind that makes jokes and pulls pranks" I just started laughing. He's so funny. He's really receptive, but he's not willing to take the plunge (yet) and as of right now, it's kind of a waiting game. But it will happen. Soon.

The Guillen family is so so great. I love them. There's the mom, her boyfriend, and her son and twin daughters. They're so funny. And really smart. They have these two cats, Simba and Jasmine, who they just love to death. But we were sitting there making cards for cancer patients since we talked about charity, and one of the twins says, "Simba's really really fat. Maybe he should fast like Joseph [her brother] so he can lose weight." And I started busting up because who even thinks of that? It's genius though, I will say. But they are such a cute family. Joseph is a really really nice boy. But he's a typical 10 year old boy. Then there's Alicia and Sophia, who I still can't tell the difference between until I talk to them. Sophia is kind of a punk, but Alicia is the sweetest. She's always asking us if we need anything, or if she can do anything for us. And their mom is really just trying her best, and I think she's doing a great job. It must be really hard though, so I'm always amazed that she holds it together so well. 

We had dinner at the Lee's this week, and they are the cutest. Sister Lee went off on how BYU removes agency and her daughters were singing and playing piano and her husband was telling us about how he applied to John Hopkins and didn't even want to go there but got locked in to going. It was kind of a crazy night. But their daughter, Emily, can sing SO well. We were like "Hey... can you sing for us?" She goes "NO" but then as we're heading out the door, she goes, "Well... maybe I can sing you a little bit.. this song is from that new movie 'Frozen' so here goes..." yeah, she can really really sing. And the other two are just cute haha 

So I woke up one morning and both sides of my chin are bruised. I don't really know what happened, but I guess I punched myself on both sides of my face one night? Weird. 

Met with a less active who told us she doesn't believe in the after life. But she believes in heaven and hell. But she wants to be cremated and have her ashes thrown across the ocean so she can fly away. But she also wants to ride a motorcycle. I have no idea if this makes sense to anyone else, but we are going to follow up. I was like "You know, when we get there, I hope you let me ride with you on the motorcycle, because my mom would kill me if I did that anytime soon." And she just looked at me and smiled. Lots and lots of follow up questions... 

Yesterday's dinner included peasant that had been shot by our member. I know it was fresh because I found some of those little like pellet things while I was eating. Peasant is kind of tough, I don't really recommend it. That and buffalo. We also met with our recent convert, Shuwei, who I actually taught that first time I came here as an investigator, and he's so funny. He's an exchanges student from China and he's going home next week, which will be interesting since China isn't really all about freedom of religion. He was telling us his favorite music artists and he says, "Well, I really like Taylor Swift, but there's also Ke$ha, Katy Perry, Rihanna..." hahahaha

This week's thought is on joy. It was the theme for our Christmas party- Jesus Others and You. Tricky right? But I was thinking about what really makes us happy. And not just content, but joyful. And ultimately, it's the things that last forever. Relationships with family, friends, God. Working hard all day every day for a good cause. Not many things will bring that lasting happiness, but I do know that Christ can provide that. Despite our flaws, God loves us unconditionally. And thank goodness He does, because otherwise it'd be pretty hopeless. But that's only one of SO MANY things that I'm grateful for at this time. Especially all of you good people. 

Keep the Christ in Christmas

Love,

Sister Kwan