Week 50--Goodbye Mr. Edwards!

There's this one member in White Salmon named Joe and he looks EXACTLY like Mr. Edwards on “Little House on the Prairie”, which was one of my favorite shows growing up. I thought it might be a fun name for this week but it might actually just be weird. I don't care. 

This week was AWESOME.

I am seriously loving my new area SO MUCH. 

Okay, back up a minute.

Monday we had my last lesson with Raul, and said goodbye to Max and Jane. It was a little bittersweet but I feel so confident in Hermana Hull. I'm sure she's already doing amazing taking over the area. We also called Larissa to say goodbye to her, too. Then she told us she's actually going to be staying in Alaska for a lot longer than we thought, so she's moving her records over there! That means she officially lives out of mission boundaries by a LOT and I can email her! Sweeeeet. 

Tuesday was my last day helping at the Seventh-day Adventist Thrift Shop. It was pretty fun saying goodbye to everyone, including Mr. Edwards! People were so sweet and nice! I also said goodbye to the Holdens, which was funny, because Brother Holden is pretty short, and when I wasn't paying attention he went in the other room and grabbed a stool and put it right next to me and stood on it. "I want to see you eye to eye at least once before you go! A new lease on life!" Haha! It was so funny. Of course he had to stay on the stool for pictures too so he wouldn't look too short. Goodbye to Bob and Loretta :( Goodbye to the Goodriches! :( and the hardest one of all, Goodbye to Mama and Papa Abken. It was sad but more bittersweet. I was definitely ready to go. After six months in an area you start to know a little too much about people. It's so nice and refreshing to have a change and a new start! PLUS…PURO ESPANOL!!!

 Goodbye David!

 Goodbye Bishop Goodrich!

 Goodbye Holdens!

Goodbye Jody!

 Goodbye Max!

Goodbye Vansickles!

Wednesday morning at 7:30, a member, Sister Clark, came and picked us up and took me to the Hall's house. Then she and Hermana Hull were companions for the day since Hermana Baird was coming down all the way from Wenatchee and wasn't going to get there till 6 pm! Then the Halls drove me to Yakima to the transfer site. It was pretty fun at the transfer site because I got to see a bunch of friends! Of course, Hermana Luevano and I were inseparable, and we found out our best friend Elder Najarian got a crazy transfer call! He's being doubled in to Quincy, a District leader AND training for the first time! I got to meet his "son" too, I think it's going to be an awesome transfer for him. If anyone can handle it, it's Elder Najarian. We also found out about a MIRACLE FOR REAL. I AM SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOO EXCITED, BECAUSE THEY HAVE TURNED ROYAL BACK INTO A SISTER AREA. When I left Royal City, Hermana Luevano and I got doubled out and elders took our place, but now they doubled back in sisters!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS? My dreams could come true! I could die there!!!! Gah! I'm so happy about that. 

Transfer Site! 

Me, Elders Najarian and Ence, Sister Clark

 Elder Miles, Hermanas Luevano, Fano, Stocking, Knight

Elders Oliverson & Quast, Hermana Knight

Then I rode with Elders Taele and Boshard up to Ellensburg and met my new companion, Hermana Kayley Shewell. She is SO awesome! She's from Utah, is neighbors with David Archuleta, (COOL) and is the oldest of 6 kids! She is really chilled out and laid back. Super sweet and gentle. Pretty different from silly, loud, and bold Hermana Hullheart! Haha! I'm already so excited for this transfer and can't wait for all the stuff I will learn from Hermana Shewell! And applying all the stuff Hermana Hull taught me to this area! Hermana Shewell is also a competitive dancer, which made me think of my sister, Emily, and she wants to be an eye doctor when she grows up :) 

Me and Hermana Sewell

 Ellensburg transfer site!

So a little about the area. We are "Ellensburg Spanish" and we cover all of Ellensburg (3 wards and YSA) for Spanish work! So it's a huge area, but most of the work is in downtown Ellensburg and Kittitas. We're the only Spanish missionaries in the whole Selah Zone! So that's pretty crazy and weird. Definitely different, but I like it. Our area is pretty new and hasn't had many missionaries work it yet, so that's nice to have a lot of places that are untouched! We also have a LOT of Spanish-speaking English members to work with, so I'm SO excited. This area is also a lot like Royal, in that there are a lot of members who own orchards or farms or hay businesses, etc. and have a lot of Hispanic employees, so I'm excited for that too! 

Ellensburg! 

I love our apartment! We live in a college town with a lot of housing options, and ours is pretty sweet! We also get to live with the Ellensburg 3rd Ward sisters, so it's really fun living in a “quadpan” again! Unpacking was bleh, but I'm getting pretty good at doing it quickly at this point! I had to get another bag last week though, because I gathered so much stuff in White Salmon! I need to get rid of things! Wednesday night we met La familia Reina. I have missed Spanish work SO MUCH. The good news is my Spanish isn't rusty! We walked in their house and the Hispanic feel and smell was like coming home! AH, it was just so right.

 Unpacking!

Thursday we did a service project helping some people move, so that was good! (Got to wear pants!) Later in the day we met the Quincy family on the lawn outside of a building on campus (cool right?) for a pizza picnic for dinner. Ellensburg and central Washington University campus actually remind me a ton of Logan and USU. That night we went to the Institute to put out some fliers about a cultural event we're going to have and ended up meeting some awesome returned missionaries who speak Spanish and want to come out with us. Sweeeeeet. Then we had correlation with our Ward mission leader, Brother Doman. He is awesome! We went through the ward directory with him and color coded things and learned everyone's callings, so that's awesome! 

Friday we went to lunch at Bishop Shipman's (1st ward) work. He owns a hay business and has a lot of Hispanic employees. It turns out that one of our Recent Converts from Yakima, Manuel, works there!!! It was so exciting to see that.  We had delicious carnitas pork and beans! The beans recipe was 2lbs beans, and 10 lbs of bacon!! Haha…typical!

At Bishop Shipman's work...beautiful!

Friday afternoon we had a lesson with Janie. She’s mentally challenged, I think she might have fetal alcohol syndrome. She's really sweet and interesting to teach. We're not totally sure if she even needs baptism, because of where her mental capacity is at, but she did really enjoy conference! Saturday we went to the church to watch it, and then on Sunday we went to the Hill's house with Janie. She was responding really well and actually understanding a lot, so we'll see! We also taught a lesson to Clemencia. She's 70 and just lost her husban, so she's really grieving right now. We had a powerful lesson about the Plan of Salvation and eternal families. It was really awesome. I felt like a missionary!!!

Us with Janie

We also met the Nunez family. They are so funny! There have been a lot missionaries serve here from Texas, and also a lot who have gone home early due to illness, so they were like "Which one of you is it going to be? Haha!" 

Sunday night we met Leila. She reminds me so much of Andie! (Shout out and thanks for the letter!!) 

I think that's it. I'm running out of time! I love you all so much!!!

A diagram that shows how I'm connected with my companions

and they are connected with their companions.

Arrows mean a trainer, regular lines mean companions.