Rashauna helping clean up a flooded home.
Sister Smith and Rashauna: Attack of the turtlenecks!
Sister Smith, Rashauna & Sister Mangum: All three received letters one day!
I'm in Greeley, Colorado. We are living with the sweetest couple in the world. He is the Greeley Stake Patriarch and she plays us songs on the piano and always has a buffet of healthy snacks on the table. I love talking to them together and individually. He majored in and taught biology for some years and they both have the best stories. They are some of my new favorite people. They call us their daughters :)
It has been a crazy week. There are about 300 less active members in our ward, so we've been doing a lot of those visits. It was a little strange trying to get used to having three of us teaching, but we work well together. We laugh a lot and work hard. Like usual, we've found a good balance. We've met some really wild people haha. Really wild. We've been trying to branch out and find new ways to meet people. We recently tried walking about a big shopping center and talking to people there. We were laughed at and very obviously ignored before running into two women that were interested and another man right afterward that we were able to give a Book of Mormon to. I love bearing my testimony of the Book of Mormon. That Book has a power incomparable to any other. It changes lives. Sometimes our faith is tested before we get to where we need/want to go. If we had quit after having people laugh at us we would have never been able to talk to the three people who were interested in learning more.
The families we've had dinner with have been remarkable. This ward is making this transition very easy, which I am grateful for. Every now and again something reminds me of Laramie and pulls on my heart strings. I heard that M, the manager of Salvation Army in Laramie, had her first lesson finally and agreed to be baptized!! Service softens hearts. Check out justserve.org today!!
During the week, Sister Loux, Hermana Smith, and I (the Sister Training Leaders in the Greeley and Greeley East Zones) decided to plan a mini Sisters Conference. We planned it on Wednesday and had it on Thursday. Somehow everything came together and it was a real success. After reading the talk by Elder Christofferson, "The Moral Force of Women" (http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/the-moral-force-of-women) we decided to incorporate several quotes into the meeting. I spoke about life before a mission and what led each of us up to where we are now. Sister Loux spoke about life on a mission and how much we, as sisters, influence the work. Hermana Smith spoke on life after a mission and focused on who we want to become. We invited Sister Buss (the adorable and amazing woman we live with, who served in the eastern states mission) and Sister Brown to come speak to us as well. The spirit was powerful and several of the Sisters expressed how much they enjoyed and needed that meeting. I still can't believe that we pulled it off, but it was great.
We got to help out a family on Saturday that had their home destroyed by the flood. I didn't realize that towns outside of Boulder had been affected as well. It was a really rewarding service project, but it's hard to see people's lives so drastically changed. It's really hard being in what used to be someone's home and have it feel like an empty shell. However, I love seeing the good that comes after a natural disaster. I know that probably sounds crazy, but I love it. People come from everywhere to help. Communities come together regardless of religion, race, or background. It's wonderful. It reminds me of the way things should be. Life becomes more simplified in that small area of the world.
"Everything that is good is on your side," -Seth Hoer (Sorry I hope I don't embarrass you with this, but I loved it)
Love, Sister Hoer
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