Greeley Letter #16

Sister Missionaries blindfolded Rashauna on her birthday 

so they could surprise her by watching the sunrise.

Capturing the sunrise.

Morning birthday party with Rashauna's favorite things...

Flowers on her birthday from an investigator.

Liz Adamson and Rashauna. 

The Spirit Animal. 

 Birthday gifts from Sister Tafengatoto.

Total letter count: 100 and counting. I seriously don't deserve this. Thank you so much everyone who contributed/is contributing.

I got to go on exchanges with Hermana Mangum!! It was so much fun to be with her again and we had one of our most productive days. Every good day starts with a good study. And we got free pancakes at IHOP due to March 4th (shout out to Leshelle) being national pancake day. Sweet!!

R and S found a special on TV titled "The Truth About Mormons" Oh no. It came on right after we left. They said it raised a lot of questions, and they asked if we would watch it with them. I was a little nervous, but what we share is true and you just have to trust that Heavenly Father will help us out. Sure, we turned it on and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We laughed through parts and paused it every so often so we could correct the crazy preachers "quotations" from Mormon Doctrine. It was honestly quite funny. We only got through the first 15 minutes, but we were able to show S the scriptures that the man was claiming to "quote" and he was able to see for himself how completely different they were. It turned out to be a really positive experience.

I'm bringing Waffle Wednesday back!! We all got together either before or after district meeting on Wednesday and had waffles :) That was fun. We also had the best lesson ever with T. We have been praying to be able to discern the needs of those we teach and we were really able to feel that help when we met with her. It just became so clear what she needed. Later that night, some people took us out to dinner for my birthday. I went to the bathroom and a woman saw my tag and asked where I worked. I explained that I'm a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She said, "Oh so do you visit people?" I told her yes, all the time. "Well, could you visit me?" Absolutely, you should know that we talk about the gospel and help people work towards baptism. Is that something you'd be interested in? "Yeah, here's my address. Would you like my phone number too?" SOOO COOL. Sister T and I have made an effort to work harder and it is so neat to see the miracles that just land in our lap as a result. Put God first, be yourself, do your best, and everything else just works out. Simple as that.

Thursday was insane. I woke up to several sisters in my room. They freaked out and threw a blanket over me. I was blindfolded and put into a car. We drove for a little while before we stopped, got out and I was lead to a predetermined destination. They sat me down on the ground. It was still dark and freezing!! Finally they took off my blindfold and I was looking at a new soccer ball, a watermelon, almond milk ice cream, raspberries and I was sitting on a hill to watch the sunrise. What did I ever do to deserve such amazing people. It was so much fun. We took a lot of fun pictures as the sun was coming up. Then, Sister Katie Seamons (member in our ward) invited us and her friend over for a birthday lunch. Most amazing new investigator!!! Her friend brought me flowers for my birthday!!!!! We have an appointment with her and her family on Wednesday and our amazing member missionary family is coming too! I'm so excited. Oh and Katie made us vegan apple pie :) AMAZING!!!

I had a 6 hour leadership meeting on my birthday. However, it was very inspirational and several sisters brought me hilarious gifts. I also was given a spirit animal. You can only receive a spirit animal from someone who has one already so this was quite an honor. We had dinner at the Adamsons!!!! They made me sweet potatoes and fruit salad and all sorts of good stuff. They always make us feel so special over there. On top of everything they got me a really cute new scarf. What more could a sister missionary ask for: A healthy feast and new accessory. I went home that night to see my room full of balloons and decorations. I was surprised to see all of that but even more surprised when someone popped out of my bed from under the covers. The sisters in my zone really went all out!! I opened up all my gifts from the family and friends. My goodness, you guys spoil me. THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!! I've been enjoying all of it so much. I've written cards, worn new skirts, eaten some awesome granola bars, so good. I just felt so loved all week.

Sunday was crazy. We are going to postpone the upcoming baptism. They just don't know what they are agreeing to and I know that more time learning would only benefit them. So that was a little hard, but their grandparents screamed at us when they found out. That was what was really hard. I seriously didn't know what to do. Grandpa won't talk to us. We were able to explain why to the grandma, but she still has a hard time understanding that this is truly for their good. Sister T and I just cried. It was the worst experience of my mission so far. BUT, the coolest less active I know had us over for dinner and card games. She made these really good peanut butter/cheerio treats. They are soooo good. And they taught us a new card game. I'm really excited to show you when I get home :)

Oh and we had to move this week. Long, boring story. But we are now living with the Bishop and his wife. They are really cool.

Sincerely, 

Sister Rashauna Hoer