Sunday 24 November 2013

November 17, 2013 E-mail

Mommy,

South Sac is great! I have no reason to complain and every reason to rejoice! The work is good. We are teaching some great people. Briana is ten years old. Her grandma is a member but her parents are not. She is so smart! She knows and remembers everything and she has already asked us to be baptized. She just has to talk to her mom about it!

At church on Sunday we had seven investigators! Woo hoo! They are all so great! We are so excited that they were able to come feel the Spirit! One man, Jose, we met last week and taught him the Restoration. He seemed to really be thinking about it. Then he came to church yesterday and brought his little son! He had read the pamphlet we left with him, and we gave him a Book of Mormon but he is going out of town for a few weeks to San Fran for work. But he said we would read and go to church in San Fran if we got him the address! We are so excited for him!

I'm sorry I don't have much more to say this week and I forgot my card reader so I can't upload pictures right now. Next week I promise!

Te amo muchisimo!

Hermana Arntsen

Monday 11 November 2013

November 5, 2013 E-mail and letter, November 11, 2013 E-mail

November 5, 2013

Mommy,
Everything sound so great at home! I'm so excited to hear about everyone.

So this week is transfers and I'M GETTING TRANSFERED!! :D I'm going up to East Sacramento! I'm so excited! I will be serving in the ward that Hermana Jensen just left last transfer! Haha! We just did a little swaperoo! I don't know what the Lord has in store for me and Hermana Jensen but we are for sure going to be stuck together for a while haha. That is really all I have to report. I will be in a trio with Hermana Skidmore (she came out with me) and Hermana Clonts (Hermana Marroquin trained her right before me). I'm so excited and it will be great!

This week was good. Hermana Dando got emergency transferred to Stockton on last Wednesday because a Hermana went home. So Hermana Jensen and I were an actually companionship for a week. It was good but sad. We were on bikes because neither of us is authorized to drive the car so that was fun. We had two flat tires and we had to replace a bike tube so Brother Robinson helped us a little. I have pictures!

Biking was one of the hardest things I have had to do on the mission, but it definitely expanded my view of my abilities and limits. It was a good week.  A couple of our investigators are so close to baptism. They won't quite accept a date yet, but they have felt the Spirit and have noticed the change of repentance in their lives. I'm excited for the progress we have been seeing.
Always a good week in the work!

Love,
Hermana Arntsen


November 5, 2013 Letter

Hey Family! 
So guess what? Pretty much the second I got off e-mailing you today, I got a call from an Assistant, Elder Morley, who told me that my assignment has changed.  I am not going to East Sacramento with Hermanas Skidmore and Clonts.  I am going to South Sacramento with Hermanas Hansen and Freestone. That was quite the surprise! I asked Elder Morley what might be the reason for the change (just out of curiosity) and he said: “Just a change we felt needed to happen. When the spirit prompts us we just listen.”  I trust Elder Morley.  Although it may be a little hard, I now it will all be ok.  I just have to trust in the Lord—that he knows where I am and where I need to be going. It may be a little harder, but harder things are ALWAYS worth it in the end. South Sac here I come!
Love from a missionary,
Hermana Arntsen


 
Hermana Arntsen & Hermana Jensen--5 months out!

November 11, 2013
Mommy,
Everything is great here in South Sac. So the mission is divided into zones which align almost exactly with stake boundaries. I was in the Manteca Zone in Tracy with the Manteca Stake. They were going to transfer me to the East Sac zone and that stake but instead I got transferred to the South Sac zone and this stake. I love it here. Everything is really great! My companions are so much fun and I love them so much!!!!!!!! The area is great! Very ghetto but great.

I'm in a branch now not a ward, but it's really great the people are wonderful! We live in an apartment complex on the corner of Mack Rd. and Valley Hi in Sacramento (for Dad if he wants to see the area). The area goes as far North as Florin road and as far South as Bilby, if you can find it it's just south of Elk Grove Blvd. Then we have the two freeways as boundaries on the sides. It's a lot bigger than Tracy but that's good, more people to meet.

The other day we went to knock on a potential investigator's door and his nephew answered who apparently was about to get baptized a few years ago and is the nephew of the Elders Quorum president in our branch. He's awesome and we are excited to teach him, Omar.

My companions are a blast! Hermana Hanson trained Hermana Jensen so we are almost just swapping. Hermana Hanson is from South Jordan and she wants to be an EMT. She is downright hysterical! And so loving! A wonderful missionary! Hermana Freestone I already knew. She was the companion of the exchange sister in Tracy, so I already spent a few days with her and love her! She brings out the gangster in me, haha! She is a really good missionary and really cares for the people and has a great vision for improvement! I'm so excited for this area and this transfer.

I'm almost at my six month mark! AAHH!! I can't think about it! The time is flying TOOOO fast! But I'm excited for the time I do have to be a missionary and serving here is great!

I'll keep an eye out for Elder Clausen when I get there (Buenos Aires) which I still don't know when that is. But Elder Sorensen, who was in my MTC district and just got there, says that it the highest baptizing in South America, so that's exciting!

Bring as many people as you can to the Gilbert Temple open house! It's a great no-harm missionary opportunity! In Tracy there was an Elder from Gilbert and he said to me, Sister Arntsen why does the cultural celebration have to be at Hamilton?! That's not even in Gilbert and Hamilton is the worst! Haha! I thought it was so funny! Later he admitted it was a good school. Haha!

Have the best week! Be a missionary!
Love,

Hermana Arntsen

Monday 4 November 2013

October 29, 2013 Letter

Mommy!
I will definitely be a missionary for Halloween! Actually it will be a fun day. We will be working until 4 pm.  Then me and my companions are going to Chipotle before the zone activity. I think we're just going to be playing some games and stuff. Then after the zone activity we are going to have zone training. It's all at night because we can't exactly work on Halloween. :)

This week was good. The Elders (Elder Lee, the District leader and Elder Bradshaw) had a baptism this past Saturday. Terecita and her son, Angel were baptized. The husband of this family was baptized a while ago and now the family is complete! That was exciting.

Our investigator, Publio, came to the baptism--sort of. It started at 6:30, and he got there at 7:55 pm. Just in time to eat some food. But we got to show him the font and he really like it. He is so awesome! Just yesterday we were talking to him, and he said, "I love our church:" Our church! I expect he will be baptized very soon. He said he will be, he just won't settle on a date yet. He's really sad though that we will be leaving some time. Publio is very special to my companionship. He is down right hilarious! He always has something funny to say! We're really glad to be teaching him.

Also at church was this family we are teaching: Armando--dad, Maria--mom, Armando jr,--9, and Leondardo--6. Maria and the kids came once before, and she really like it, which was a miracle because she told us she doesn't like church. This week Armando came which was even more of a miracle because he usually goes hunting every weekend Friday 'til Sunday, but this week he was there! They are a really cute family.

Also this Sunday I played the organ in Sacrament meeting (we usually rotate weeks). So earlier that morning I texted the Sister to get the hymn numbers: 98,111,and 36 in the Spanish hymn book (himnario). So I practiced those, and they weren't too bad. Then I go to church and I wasn't listening to Brother Carreno announcing the song because I was waiting for our investigators. And the usual hymn conductor was outside of the room so another missionary stepped up to lead. So, I played the entire introduction of #98 but when I looked to the conductor to start she just had this confused look on her face and walked over showing me the himnario--we were singing #106! So I flipped to that one and sight-read the organ! AH! The sacrament hymn was normal, thank goodness, but then there was a rest hymn they didn't tell me about! So I also sight-read "The Banner of Zion?" (I don't remember what it's called--I'm just translating in my head! haha). It was a crazy day on the organ!! Oh, mission life!

Love,
Hermana Arntsen