Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Bonjour!

This week wasn't too crazy, but then again some crazy stuff happened! On Tuesday we had interviews with the mission President and his wife. My mission President right now is President Durham, and him and his wife are the sweetest people! They are so supportive and even though I've only known them for about three weeks, I love them and feel so comfortable with them. Also on Tuesday we started exchanges, so I went and spent 24 hours with a different sister missionary in a different area. It was interesting to say the least. I was with Hermana Leiva  and if you couldn't guess by her name, she speaks Spanish and serves in a Spanish area. So everyone that we talked to spoke Spanish... I don't speak Spanish. However, I found that there are quite a few words that are the same or at least similar to French words so I could pick up a little bit of what they were saying, but definitely not enough to be an active part of the conversation. It's all good though! I had a great time! Hermana Leiva and I ate some really good Mexican food, so overall it was a success! Wednesday and Thursday were just normal days of finding people to teach and then teaching the people that we found. 

 

However, Friday was the best day I have had on my mission so far. On Friday Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf (a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) came to our mission and talked with us, and it was amazing! He gave us so much counsel on how to be effective missionaries and how to be the best versions of ourselves. It was so spiritually uplifting!! One of the things that he said to us in reference to the Atonement of Jesus Christ was that even after you have used the Atonement and sincerely repented of your sins that you will still remember those sins, but God has forgotten them and just because you remember doesn't mean you haven't been forgiven. You remember your sins, not to relish in them and to feel bad, but so you don't make the same mistakes. It was a really powerful meeting and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to be there and hear the words of an apostle as he gave specific counsel. It was AMAZING!!! 

 

On Sunday we had a lesson with one of our investigators named Levi. We have taught him a couple of times and answered any questions that he has had for us, and during our lesson on Sunday we asked him if he would like to be baptized at the end of September and he said yes. So now we will continue to teach him and make sure that all of his questions are answered and then hopefully at the end of September he will feel ready to take the steps into baptism and receive all of the blessings that come from baptism. I am SO excited about his choice and for the opportunity that I have to teach him and to feel of the sweet testimony that he has. I'm constantly being shown the greatness of this work each day and I am SO incredibly grateful for it! I know that this church is true without a shadow of doubt, and I'm beyond blessed by it each day! 

 

Also, just something funny that happened in church on Sunday: this wonderful lady named Betty who is probably in her 70s gave a talk in sacrament meeting and at the end of her talk she says to the congregation, "now this is how I want y'all to remember me when I'm gone" and then she preceded to end her talk by singing the entirety of "When the Saints Go Marching In". At one point she paused her singing and told the entire congregation to join in with her. It was the funniest thing that I have ever seen and there were literally people crying because it was so funny, but Betty is the sweetest person and I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to know her!

 

Today my companions and I went to a Filipino market and tried this Filipino drink called halo halo and it tasted like Graham crackers drenched in coconut milk except it had the consistency of ice cream and a slushy all in one. It is one of the most interesting things that I have ever eaten, but overall not too bad. One of my companions is from the Philippines so she loved it and my other companion is from Kentucky and we both decided that it was okay and maybe in like 3-5 years we would have it again, but we probably wouldn't buy it regularly. Also the ice cream part of it is called ube and it is made of yams. They also put jello, coconut pieces, and beans in it. It was just super interesting altogether.

 

I love y'all so much and I'm so grateful for all of you!

Love,

Sister Connery 

Some things we found at the Filipino market

Halo Halo

Another great license plate

 My companions and I hiked to the top of a mountain at 6:30 in the morning for exercise

A message that my district leader sent us in French that we translated to show him what he said

 

 After tracting one day my ankle was really swollen so I was going to ice it when we got home, but we didn't have any ice or frozen vegetables or anything. However, we did have frozen egg rolls so I used a scrunchie to hold an egg roll on my ankle as an ice pack

Bonjour From The Ghetto

Hi all!

Bonjour from the ghetto. Don't worry the ghetto isn't too bad and people are usually pretty nice to us because we are missionaries and they are to afraid to mess with people who literally have Jesus Christ on their name tag. Plus the people here are really nice and generally accept the message of Jesus Christ and are at least good with listening to us once.  So the weather isn't too bad, I'm in the hottest zone in the mission, but I never feel too hot or too cold. The work here is kinda slow, but it's been picking up ever since the new transfer started. We are teaching this one lady in her 50's who used to be a drug addict, but stopped when her doctor told her she was going to die if she kept smoking and doing drugs. She is super sweet and always has a lot to say when we come over. She has agreed with everything we've taught her so far,  and she told us last time that she is going to tell the Jehova's witnesses to stop coming over because she doesn't like what they are teaching, but she likes what we have been teaching her so we are going to keep praying and teaching her and hope that she comes to know the truthfulness of the gospel for herself. That's something that we've really been stressing because a lot of people think that we are just there to tell them what to think and that's generally something that people don't like, so we are constantly reaffirming people that this gospel is their choice and we can help them understand it better, but ultimately whether or not they accept it is a personal choice that we can't make for them and they are usually a lot more receptive to that and are willing to hear us out and learn more. 

My companions are amazing! We have so much fun together, but we are still constantly helping each other come closer to the Savior and be better, more obedient missionaries. However, keeping up my French is really hard. Neither one of my companions speak French, so it's pretty much me just doing everything I can in French and really tying to have any effective language study so that I can keep improving, but I already know that Barbados is going to kick my butt when I get there so I'm just trying to lessen the blow. Also, I could actually be speaking French with my district leader because he is from France, but he doesn't like to speak French here because it messes up his English and his other language that he was called to serve in which is called Lao or something like that. But occasionally he will speak French with me and I don't do too terrible so even if I'm not improving a whole ton, at least I'm maintaining I think. 

I do get to use Facebook, but only while I'm in California. So I guess I'll just use to the best of my ability while I can. But its super weird going between gabbing technology and then not having technology.  Adjusting isn't too hard,  but remaining focused and using technology to the best of its ability can be a little tricky at first. 

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for everything that you do for me! This truly is the greatest experience of my life and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I've been given to share what I know to be true. I love you all so much and love hearing from you each week.

Love times infinity!

Sister Connery

On P-day (today) we bought ice cream and watched a church movie

Our ice cream again

Sister Bunch watching the movie

 My companions and I found ninja masks at the store

 Pittsburg, California

 A license plate we saw while we were out tracting

 A super sweet family in the ward that we had dinner with

California!!!

Hey everyone!!

Okay, so CALIFORNIA!!! I'm literally so stoked to be in California, and to be serving the Lord! It's the best of both world's! We aren't exactly sure how long I'm going to be here, but I'll get my visa eventually and when I do I'll most likely wait till the end of the transfer and then go to Barbados. So to be simple, we are pretty sure that I'll be here for six weeks and then go to Barbados, but we will see what the Lord has in store! It's been so crazy trying to figure everything out, but it's also been such a blessing! This truly has been a test for me to rely on the Lord and whatever He has planned. Everyday I thank the Lord for my blessings and my trials, and I'm constantly grateful that I have the Lord to lean on. I've only been here about 5 days, but I've already learned so much, met so many people, and made so many new friends! Even though I wasn't originally called to the Oakland/San Francisco mission it will always be a part of my mission and I am SO grateful for it!!!
 

California is so much fun! I'm in the city of Pittsburg, California so pretty much in the ghetto. I'm also in another trio!! So my companions are sister bunch and sister liquiran. Sister bunch is from Kentucky and is my trainer. She has been out 8 months and is amazing!! Sister Liquiran is from the Philippines and she is so amazingly sweet! She only understands like half of what we say, but it makes life so much more fun. Today she taught me how to make Lumpia and I seriously suggest that you try it because it was so good! It's pretty much a Philippino egg roll, and it is delicious. Also, since today was P-day we had a district water balloon fight and it was fantastic! I have been so blessed to have amazing companions and districts so far in my mission (even though I've only had two). But everyone is so much fun and we all have a great time together!

I love you all so so much!!! Im so grateful for every single one of you and I am especially grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. Each day I am learning more about His infinite love for us and I am seeing the miracles in my life from having faith in Him! Je t'aime!!!
 

Soeur Connery

Moving On!

Bonjour!

This was my last full week in the MTC! It is crazy to think about how fast time goes here, and the fact that they believe I'm ready to go serve others and teach them the gospel in French! I got my travel plans last week, but I was notified today that my visa hasn't gone through yet, so I may be temporarily reassigned to the Oakland/San Francisco Mission for 6 weeks before I go to Barbados. However, nothing is official until my original flight to Barbados leaves on Monday morning. Most people who get reassigned are super upset about it, but honestly I'm okay with it! I figure that the Lord is going to send me wherever I'm supposed to go, and if my reassignment actually happens then I'll at least get to say that I served in two different missions! 

Anyways, this week was great as usual! I spoke in church on Sunday in French, and I'm not going to lie it was rough, but I made it through and everyone told me that it sounded good so I guess there's progress! Also, just something funny that happened Sunday night, Soeur Black talks in her sleep sometimes and on Sunday night she woke me up because she full on screamed, "Bonjour!" in her sleep. She is insane, but I love her. On Tuesday, Soeur Black and I taught a skype lesson to a woman from Quebec, and it was needless to say interesting. The island French that I'm learning is a little different from the French that Soeur Black is learning for Canada, so I was already a little confused, but then the woman that we were teaching had the thickest Quebec accent, and we could not understand her at all! Soeur Black's teacher was watching and listening to our entire lesson, and he was laughing the entire time because he thought it was so funny how thick the woman's accent was and then how confused we were the whole time. It was an adventure for sure, but the important thing is that we shared the gospel in French we just didn't know what she was saying to us. Overall, I had a few bad lessons this week, but the Lord pulled through every time and continued to show me how He was looking out for me and all of the blessing that He has given me. It really does go to show how our faith in the Lord is what will pull us through when we are pretty sure that there is no moving forward anymore. 

Soeur Black and I have had a room to ourselves for 2-3 weeks and I think the Lord knew that we were getting too comfortable like that because on Wednesday we had 4 new sisters move into our room. They are all going to Reno, Nevada and San Diego, California English speaking. They are all really nice, but to be quite honest we don't see them very much and I'm not going to be here for much longer so I don't know all of their names. However, they are all really sweet and Soeur Black and I are happy to have them in our room with us. Yesterday was my last day of service in the MTC, and it was so much fun! When the people in charge found out that it was my last day they said that Soeur Black and I could do the most fun job, so we spent an hour or so power washing the showers in the girls residence hall and it was so much fun! I guess you take what you can get for fun in the MTC, but I would take power washing showers over vacuuming carpet any day! 

Last night in class, Frere Pruett (One of my French teachers) almost made me cry. We were sitting there translating some sentences when all of a sudden he gasps and in a really sad voice says, "Oh no". We were all really confused and asked him what was wrong and he looked over at me and said, "I just got really sad because I realized that I only have two more lessons with Soeur Connery" and it about broke my heart. I already know that saying goodbye to all of these amazing people who have influenced and taught me so much for the last 6 weeks is going to be so hard for me to do! It is amazing how fast you can build relationships that are meaningful, and that you will never forget! I'm so grateful for all of the amazing people that I've gotten the opportunity to meet in the MTC and I'm looking forward to all of the amazing people that I have left to meet on this mission and throughout the rest of my life! I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for everything you do for me! I can't wait to talk to you all next week!

Love,

Soeur Connery

My companions Soeur Southwick & Soeur Begay, who are both serving in Tahiti with the rest of my district from the MTC ... we took pictures because of our awesome shirts!