Monday, October 27, 2014

Week 7 - I've got Jesus in my toe

Hey!!

Dang that week does sound crazy!!!! Next time you have those feelings tell him!!! It was just a tire this time but it could always be worse!!!! When is uncle Dave's birthday? What's his address to send him a card? 

So this week was insane for me!!! Insane good and bad........For starters we taught 27 lessons!!! Dang we were going crazy!!!!!!!!! We also got a new investigator and set a baptismal date!!! Saaaweeeeeeet!!!! It's with a 9 year old name Grady, his family has been last active as of recently but they are working on coming back and Grady has a real desire to be baptized, awesome!!!! 

Sis. Hallett/Brekell/Sis. Sondrup and their apples
So other than that we taught a lesson with Brekelle and she is so great!!! The cutest lady ever!!! She has this glass apple she keeps by her bed to help her remember to choose the right no matter the consequence (adam and eve) and she gave us each one of our own! Now I have an apple to carry around for 16 months and not break, but it's great all the same!!!!! Brekelle is so cool and she knows the church is true, she knows she'll be baptized we're must waiting for her to finish the B.O.M before we set a date. She plans on reading 18 pages a day and finishing this week, so we'll see what happens!!! 

We had a crazy lesson this week, like literally CRAZY. We went to a potential investigators house and watched a movie the spirit was there, and then he was like "by the way I have God on my toe" UHHHHHHH yeah.......... So he proceeds to take off his shoe and show us the impression of God's face on his toe. It's so not there. Like his toe is all sorts of nasty, like he probably she get that checked out by a doctor that's so gross. He's like "I was like God why are you on my toe?" and apparently he was like "Jeff, I cant appear to the world, but I can appear to you". So for the next 8 days he was visited by his dead ancestors and told everything he needed to know about God. He even wrote a book about his "visitations". Crazy, like Crazy. 

We also talked to someone about church, and I guess he's been on a church tour. Apparently Jesus is Spooky!!!! Like he just stares you down and he's Spooky. Thanks for the info Darell. 



So on a sadder note we might have seen a puppy get hit by a car.......yeah it was a little depressing. We were walking down the street and all I see is a puppy start to walk into the street and a car speeding up the road. I had enough time to say no, and the boom, puppy on the road bleeding, it was like 10 feet from us, very sad. What made it worse was the cries/moans it was making. Broke my heart!!!!! We ended up having to call the humane society and stay there with it until they came. After a while he sat up and was looking around, he's was breathing good and even responded to being pet, not that I pet it, I was scared to get it's blood on me.....When the humane society came he was doing so much better, but when he picked him up we found out he couldn't move his legs. I like to think he's in a better place now, but it was so sad all the same. 

To end on a better note we had a sweet lesson in Relief Society about seeing one another the way Christ sees us. We need to see people through different lenses, so made some out of pipe cleaners!!! we were an odd looking group, but it was great!!!! 


So that's all I got for the week it was a great week and the work is really progressing here in the Highland 1st area!!! Hope all Is well and tell Ryan to be safe!!!!! 

Love,
 Sister Sondrup 

Hastening the Work Wheel
It's a new tool we use in  primary. The kid is picked to come up and spin the wheel. They have to do something concerning missionary work depending on what they land on. So say the land on share, they have 3 weeks to share a message about the gospel with someone and then they come back and report. It's meant to get the kids and parents involved and it actually is, the work was kind of moving at a snail crawl in that ward and it's starting to take off now which is awesome!!!

Monday, October 20, 2014

Week 6 - The way to grace

the true way to grace! 


which way to grace?
No letter this week from you or my father? Apparently I am unloved, but that OK, I still love you!!!! 
(she got a letter but just not when first got online--we were a bit late writing today--or she was early)

Hey! 

Sorry this will be a little short, but I didn't get the email until late, so now I have less time than usual to write. 

Ryan with a girlfriend? Tell him girls are gross and have cooties!!! Just kidding that's alright I guess, is she a member? Speaking of relationships how is my big brother doing in the dating scene? How is Jordyn? 

bunny don't bobble! 
I did get my jacket and it is the one I wanted so thank you!!!  Sister Borgholthaus texted saying you sent it I was like WHOA! I think I've already passed Jake in the number of packages he got for his entire mission!!! Thanks though I  really do appreciate it! For future reference if I'm ever outside of Pocatello you have to send a package through USPS or else it won't forward from the mission office, since I'm so close right now though it was no big deal, and someone dropped it off at my house :) 
treats from mexico


The weather here has been great as well! So nice and cool, it's getting bad I'm starting to complain when it hits mid 80's now.....How will I ever go home??!?!?!?! Ryan (Idaho one) is the cutest!!!! We already have it planned out that when I come back to visit we're going to watch dragon tales together, it's going to be awesome!!!!! That family is the best!! They have 2 missionaries out right now and they are always doing stuff to help us out, seriously awesome!!!! You need to be that for the missionaries in our ward, seriously, they'd appreciate it like none other!!! 

So this week we got 2 new investigators!!!! But then we found out 1 lived one street out of area, and the other is YSA aged and has to be taught by the YSA sisters, BUMMER :( But giving others referrals will bring us blessings right? It's really hard because we really do need new investigators, but that's life I suppose. We're going to hopefully blitzing our area this week, so we'll see what happens!!!!

I just want peace

Tomorrow we're going to do exchanges with Sister Zhang who is from Mainland China and we're going to hopefully be inviting Ninn to be baptized on November 7th (does it count as a birthday present for dad, if it makes me/her/her soon to be eternal family happy, no? I didn't think so) Anyway fingers crossed!!! (not really but we are praying!!!) 

So I've been having trouble with my feet, as in they trip over everything!!! It's like Idaho hasn't heard of level sidewalks or something!!!! It's seriously by the good grace of God I haven't sprained my ankle or broken it yet!!! Snow is going to be so rough!!!! Also this week I may or may not have got strep, Bueno right? My throat felt like death, my head killed, my lymph nodes were swollen, and I started to get those white spots in the back of my throat. It's all good now, I just drugged myself (the legal kind) and swished salt water and now we're solid!!!! Well that's all I have time for, have fun in Texas and don't miss me to much!!!!! 

Love, 
Sister Sondrup 

Thats such a great story!!!! Way Cool!!! How is Jeremiah doing with all of that?  
Things have been a bit cold, but nothing to terrible yet, it's kinda like the calm before the storm. We are really struggling with having anyone to teach so we're going to do a blitz this week, the wards are great!!! We need to get them more involved ion missionary work though, because they are going to be the ones to make the difference!!!! but it's hard to get people to help when they really don't care! anyway we're trying and we're hoping to set 2 baptism dates this week!  
"or proselyting" well played door, well played 
 I gave a talk in one of the wards and I hope that really helped jump start them!!! we'll see though!
                                                            Love, Kaycie aka Sis. Sondrup
we got booed!!!! it's a neighborhood game they do every Halloween, you ding dong ditch someone with a note saying you got booed and leave a treat!! Then you do it to someone else (hang the note in your door so you dont get booed multiple times) we may or may not have ding dong ditched the mission home......
knocking all all doors--even those of fairies!!!! 
Kaycie asked for a picture of the family but i was unable to find one so I drew her one and put it into the box with her goodies--apparently someone lost their head in the process of opening the package
I cut your heads in half.....


Monday, October 13, 2014

Week 5 - Mouse in our House


Hey!

WHAT NO BANANA BOAT?! how did that happen!!! I'm sure it was great though! and I found someone who makes potato tacos so I will get some!!!! YES!!!!!! so stoked!
mini mexico vacation
The rain looks CRAZY!!!! Has Arizona/Mexico been wicked? It looks like Heavenly Father is trying to cleanse it with a flood!

The week was so awesome!!!! We were going crazy!!! The beginning was a little slow but it picked up towards the end in an insane way!


So first Cade, did I tell you about Cade? Anyway he dropped his appointment this week :( he got called into work and he works in IF as a firefighter, lame, but at least he didn't just ditch us! But we got to meet this awesome dude named Darrell (spelled like Darrell but pronounced DA-Rell, look up can I get your number on youtube). HE IS SO COOL! He's a mad rapper and just all around awesome! We found out via area book he is a former investigator and passed missionaries were told to drop him because he didn't keep appointments, so that's lame, but the 2nd times a charm right?

So we also got to go to this amazing 10 virgins production this week, and it was so solid! like the best! Dang the church is true!

So the end of our week was crazy, we had transfer calls, and.........I'm staying! surprise surprise! We did get a call last week from president saying he might add a 3rd comp. for like 2 weeks before she went home, but we didn't get her. Which is way sad because she speaks mandarin and she would have been so great for Ninn!!!!! Not to mention she's from mainland China which is sweet! I so want to hear her conversion story!!!! But that's alright she's needed somewhere else! And the Lord knows way more than I ever will. so I'm going to trust him!

So we focused a lot this week on meeting the standard of excellence, which is why the end was so crazy! we were so far from our goals!!! But we made it! not only did we make it, but we exceeded it!! Our standard is 20 lessons a week and 2 baptisms a month (we haven't made this goal yet). All in all we ended up teaching 22 lessons this week! 8 of them coming in just a 4 hour time span!!! That's literally crazy!!!! so  much teaching! we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off! But we made it! On top of achieving our comp. goals as a zone we beat the mission record for lessons taught with a member present in one week! 119!!!!!! That's craziness!!!!! Chubbuck zone for life!!! so now we are leading the mission in that, which is insane! I don't know what it is but our zone has taken off in the last transfer and president is just as confused as us, this is not something he ever saw happening, just goes to show you miracles do happen, and the Lord is looking out for us!!!

So last night our DL Elder Crumpton called us for numbers, while on the phone we had this creature dart out and run all around our basement, needless to say he's ears hurt from all our screaming! So we have a mouse in our basement!!! Sketch right! and he can climb!!!! We named him Hubert, but he's still down there and we don't know what to do, we're hoping the problem just goes away......but we're not to hopeful :( we think the trap will get him first, which is sad but I'd prefer not to have him running around down there.

We got to go to the temple this week and it was so great!!!! Dang the church is true!!! We had to rotate to like 3 or 4 rooms I cant remember but it was so cool!!! It's so beautiful in there! It's like Mesa with all the murals, but they're even bigger!!!!

Yes I've heard of meet the Mormons all missionaries have to see it, so we saw it like 3 weeks ago, and it's SOOOOOOOOOO good!!! like seriously it's awesome, you should see it! and it's not really like here join our church!!! but more like Mormons are normal, here listen to their stories, seriously awesome!!! It'll be out on hulu, Netflix, youtube, and DVD if you don't get to see it in theaters! But you should because all proceeds go to the red cross, so do it!!!!

Well that's all I have for this week, hope all is well and you're staying dry!!

Love,
Sister Sondrup 








Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Week 4 - Splits and Service

Hey!

So I'm confused, you were in Idaho? or were you in Oregon and just close? Also if you were in ID, where did you see me? My area is so residential you would have no purpose in being up here, unless you were stalking me HMMMMMMMM? Just kidding. So who exactly died? I'm a little lost, when did you drive up here? Glad classes are going well, has Ry got a job yet? How's Jordyn doing?

Well this week was one of my best/worst. We taught the most lessons we ever have, and invited 5 people to be baptized, 3 of whom said yes! but they don't want to change so no dates set yet. Bummer :( We went on splits on Monday and that was crazy! It was literally like an hour before the STL's called us and were like the ZL's want us to split when and where can we meet, WHA? But it turned out so well and we had some crazy powerful moments! We also had a naked 3 year old boy running around during the lesson but we choose to look past that.......We did tons of service and it's so awesome! We went to this store in downtown Pocatello that got flooded when the store next to it caught on fire. We were cleaning out the basement and found some sweet tunnels that run under the whole city! So sweet! Sadly we didn't have to much time to explore, but we should be going back, and this time we're bringing flashlights!

So aside from that we got a new investigator this week! We were talking to this guy Paco on the street and he wasn't super interested, so we asked if there was anyone else we could talk to. He went inside and 10 seconds later 4 guys come running out trampling over one another. That's not usually the reaction we get so we asked what Paco said and they told us that he said there was two hot chicks that needed to talk to them. Thanks Paco. Anyway we ended up talking and Cade show a real interest, we set up a return appointment so we'll see how that goes! I guess "Flirt to Convert" really does work! Just kidding! but maybe not fully..........but really I am, I'm a missionary DUH! So that was exciting!

So that's all I really have time for today. Just know I'm alive, and trying not to freeze to death! I'm glad life is good at home! did you get my letter? What about Kevin's email address? also a coat would be all sorts of great! I hope Mexico is great! Also I hope this isn't to horribly typed/misspelled I can't proof read today!


Love,
Sister Sondrup

So my coat would be so great! last week was a crazy cold week and I was freezing! It's not as bad now, but it would still be great! I don't know if I can last another 3-4 weeks without it, but I guess it just depends on how the weather turns.

So I was struggling big time this week. Since you've been on a mission to areas worse than mine i'm sure you can help. How do you help those who's situation are so bleak nothing seems to go there way? this week we met a women who's on disability being evicted from her home with her 3 year old. she has literally no money to her name and no where to go. We also met a women who has to get her spine fused or she'll die, she wont ever be able to lift more than 10lbs again, so no grandchildren, nothing. on top of that she lost a law suit and went into her bank account to find they had drained every last cent of all the homes income, including her 16 year old daughters, they have nothing. I feel so inadequate and spoiled, and mostly blessed. How can I help these people? what can I do but tell them there Heavenly Father loves them? I'm so lost, and I dont know what to do? What do you suggest?


I hope thats not to depressing sounding, things really arent to bad, I love it out here, but sometimes it gets hard! Well no one said it'd be easy! I hope all is well, and continues to be so!


Love,

Sister Sondrup