Zone Conference and staying healthy

Zone Conference - MTC friends

Zone conference - MTC friends

mustache found in the chapel after church....

It sounds like the family is doing well and mostly keeping out of trouble. Good good.

Cats! I come into contact with a lot of cats, and pet many of them while I think of the cats back home.

Scouts scouts scouts. Congratz on your award! (Dad earned a leadership and training award from Scouting) You'll have to send me pictures when you get it. It's hard to not try and get involved in the scouting here- they need the help and support here too and one leader asked if you wanted to move here and help the scouting program. We laughed.

I'm sad to not get to dress up for Halloween this year, but I'm hoping to participate in the Trunk o' Treat (a version of Trick-or-treating the congregation puts on for the children and it’s a party for everyone.  Cars are turned around, decorated, and the costumed kids run from car to car for candy in the traditional way) here in the ward anyway.

Looks good. (referring to photographs of family activities including one of her sister wearing sunglasses with a mustached dangling beneath) I counter her mustache with my own- I found it in the chapel after church, so it must mean it was meant to be mine.

(in response to the question – what should I send to liven up your holiday season?) I'm really not sure about the holidays- I will be trying to make pomegranate Jell-O (A family favorite – recipe below) at some point, but we'll see how hard getting those kinds of things is here. I haven't yet seen pomegranates in the stores, but it's not quite that time, is it?

It was sis. Rowe that sent that last photo (the mustache, I believe), but that whole set of ladies are funny.  Sister Irvine lets us use her washing machine for our laundry and such. The Garrisons will feed us tonight.

It’s been kind of a rough week. We had Zone Conference, which I loved because I got to bond with my MTC friends again (we're always excited to see each other).  I attached some pictures of some of my girls. We're excellent. We also had a baptism and confirmation this weekend, which is great. Jaelynn is 10 and is happy. Her younger brother is ready, just needs to be okay with water and we'll be good to go. The rough part came in that several of our investigators have just been kind of ignoring us this week, one of them is sick and may lose her baby (we won't find out for a few more days), and in general our numbers were low. I like the numbers- our work can be quantified. They're not everything, and we did a lot of good things this week.

Still rolling around with letting people in/loving people totally. It’s not really something I want after getting pretty good at holding people at arm's distance. The analogy is that we love people, but we keep them outside our mental white picket fence. Only certain people can come in and just be totally embraced. Our mission president wants us to essentially throw open the gate so I've been spending a lot of time on my knees about it.

We're singing in the choir and I'm not an auditory person. I can sing alright, I just don't choose to. But the ward is starting it up for the first time in forever and we've been asked to support them.

I am pretty warm - the weather's warmed up again, staying dry for the first time in forever (good, because Mom isn’t done knitting things for her yet). We've been really well fed in this area and I think gaining weight is inevitable. My companion comments about it, so now I've started commenting too. Not that it’s a bad thing- I could probably use the blubber for the coming months. Everyone gleefully tells me the farmer's almanac says it's going to be a brutal winter. I am not pleased. I'm surprised at how healthy we've stayed considering the number of different people we come into contact with. Weird (Father in Heaven is blessing her for her service by keeping her healthy!).

Anyhow. You're always in my prayers.

Bonus letter and recipes

We received a letter in the mail yesterday....included were two recipes, one from dinner at a members house....and the other is bread and looks like it was from a church lesson, but that's just a guess.

This recipe was a copy of a book page.

Ezekiels Bread (a modern version)
4 packets yeast
1 c warm water
8 c wheat flour
4 c barley flour
2 c soy flour
1/2 c millet flour
1/4 c rye flour
1/2 - 3/4 c honey
1 c lentils, cooked and mashed
4-5 Tablespoon olive oil
4 c water
1 Tablespoon salt

Dissolve yeast in 1 c warm water and 1 T of honey.  Set aside 10 minutes.  Combine the next five ingredients.  Blend lentils, oil, remaining honey and a small amount of water in a blender.  Place in a large mixing bowl with the remaining water.  Stir in two cups of (mixed) flour.  Add the yeast mixture.  Stir in salt and remaining flour.  Place on floured bread board and knead until smooth.  Pout in a oiled bowl.  Let rise until double in bulk.  Knead again, cut dough and shape into four large loaves.  Place in greased pans.  Let rise.

Bake 375* for 45-60 minutes

(Note: There is some confusion about the "fitches" called for in the original recipe.  Apparently, the fitches in the passage referred to some seasoning herb.  Cumin, fennel and nutmeg have all been suggested as the mistranslated 'fitches'.  So take your pick or leave them out.  Either will add an extra touch of taste to your homemade bread form the Bible.)

Then, as now, Ezekiels bread is crammed with such wholesome, life-extending nutrients as protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, potassium, vitamins A and C, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin.
Blog editor notes: The scriptural reference in the KJV is Ezekiel 4:9 - "Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof..." My Bible footnotes "fitches" as "fitches or spelt (a type of wheat)".


Smoked Sausage Gumbo from Taste of Home
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c chicken broth
1 pound smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage or Andouille (for a Cajun flavor)
            cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 can (14oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Hot cooked rice

In large skillet, sate the celery, onion, green pepper, and carrot in oil until tender.  Stir in flour until blended, gradually add the broth.  Bring to a boil.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes until thickened.
Transfer to a 3 qt slow cooker.  Stir in the sausage, tomatoes, oregano, thyme and cayenne.  Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until vegetable are tender.  Serve the rice

5 servings

Christines hand-written notes: may need another 1/2 c broth to thin in out a little - very thick otherwise.  Also, rice should be added about an hour before serving.

    In commenting about the bread, she said, "...speaking of bread, our sacrament bread is made by a member, and it's gluten free, lactose free, and soy free or something.  All the major allergies.  I really like it though.  I guess it's a rice bread - I'd like the recipe and make some for me, but....bread making is so time consuming!  We have an hour for meal time, so recipes with a prep time under 45 minutes is the best.

   Bought some cold weather gear (the photos are in the previous post) - Goodwill has "quarter days" - so sad we don't have those by us!  I LOVE YOU!  Pretty excited to see the stuff mom knits (as promised - items are in the works).  

Both recipes will be tried in the next couple of weeks!!

cold weather is on it's way....

I'm learning to be more grateful (and more humble, since the two go hand in hand), and working on that belief that it all works together for my good. I've said a lot of prayers for charity (the pure love of Christ) as of late, too. 

Sent off a letter the other day, and the very next day it started getting cold! Anything under 63 to me is cold, but it was in the 50s the other day. Winter is coming! I'm a baby and most of the ward has teased me quite a bit. Excited for any of the knitted bits you might have made. :) (working on that!) I bought two jackets and a sweater the other day. The long one is more like a fog/rain coat, but it has a wool and heavy satin lining, so I figure its an outermost layer kind of coat. Then I found this kind of classic looking tan jacket with furry stuff at the collar and sleeves. Lastly I found a knit sweater thing that I'm quite fond of(its mostly wool). Also bought some thermals, and I bought two pair of alpaca socks (and the stall owner gave me a third pair because she loves us (the Sister missionaries) so much)... So I have warm things for the now. We'll see how talented I am at layering once the snow comes.

Jaelynn's baptism didn't happen this last Satuday- her mom was terribly sick and would not have been able to go if we continued. So she's rescheduled for this coming weekend. Ana's off date because she's not been keeping the commitment to read, so her mom won't okay her baptism(but mom's also not totally supportive because she's distracted by other life things right now). Sue's still chugging along, though she didn't come to Sacrament(something apparently came up). Brandi can't go anywhere until she moves out, and the stumbling blocks are piling up(medical bills are ridiculous- makes me really grateful to have such awesome medical)... Faith is hard sometimes. God asks some major life changes sometimes.

I've been studying charity, repentance, and I've been reading straight through both the bible and Book of Mormon. It's slow going, since I have so much to study, but it's nice to come through with an older perspective (last time I read through like this I was a teen- all my other reading has been topic reading or spontaneous location reading)... I forgot how much brutal killing there was in the Old Testament. Wow.

There were some geese in a field next to a (church) member's place. I chased them. It was most excellent. I like the flapping noise.

Transfers were largely uneventful for my companionship, as we were the only pair in my district who didn't go- those who aren't changing location or companions don't go, since it's a heck of a drive. But my district got three new ones, including two brand new missionaries. I've gotten pretty attached to one of the new Hermanas (a little Texan who plays bagpipes and loves movies) already. The new zone leader isn't very chatty. Kind of a shame, since I liked how social the previous one was. The next transfer is Oct 16th, and I'll be going to that, as my companion goes home that transfer. I won't know if I'm staying in this area or if I'm going somewhere else until that week.

What are you and the family studying in the scriptures?

glad to see that she's acquired some real cold weather gear

she looks fabulous!

Blessings, weather, and Investigators

They're not doing that out here , so it might be a specific mission thing. Part of the sisters' practice is to learn to control conversation though, so while it is helpful to curb it, it is also good practice- some people just talk and talk. (The Sisters are teaching the families in the ward - including us right now)

Glad Katie's gotten her Patriarchal Blessing (this is a special Priesthood blessing given by the Patriarch of the ward that members of the church can get that is direct revelation from Father in Heaven for them only - it is a sacred and special thing to know that Father wants to give us blessings if we live righteously). I hope it's given her new direction. Remind her frequently to read it. I definitely should have more than I did as a teenager. Remind Nick and Jake too.

Transfers this week will be fine in that I will have Sister Boone two transfers- since I am brand new, and am still being trained(we have a 12 week course - she has been out for about 6 weeks), she and I will most likely not be separated or moved. But we should find out later today if something weird happens.

The weather has been really good the last few days, just on the underside of chilly. It’s been in the high 60s during the day, and cold during the night. The church buildings have been really cold the last couple of times too, so I guess I'm just meant to practice layering up.

We have a baptism this weekend for a 10 year old named Jaelyn. Her brother won't because he's afraid of water, but two brothers in the ward will be working with him on overcoming it(we hope we can get him going for the 27th- we'll see how that goes). There's another on the 20th (Ana), and our latest one is Sue on the 11th. She wants to complete the Book of Mormon first, but we'll see.

We're teaching a couple of other investigators, and each one I care about, so when things don't work out for one reason another, I'm disappointed, sad. The mission president says this is normal, and good that I get attached, but I'm definitely not enthused by it. Getting your heart broken on a regular basis doesn't do one any favors. But of course there is much rejoicing when promises are kept, covenants are made, and people are edified. Its emotionally exhausting, so I go to bed ready to sleep (now if only I would!). The days blend together, and I can hardly believe that my first transfer day is almost here. Surely I should be several transfers in by now! Surely it is too soon to see my first transfer. Evidently I'm very ambivalent. I don't know. I'm not ready for winter, though now I have two pair of alpaca socks. We will be shopping for snow gear this week or next.

Much love to all.

Christine

Labor Day Pday and daily stuff

 Note from the editor/Mom... her letter arrived on Tuesday because of the holiday, but it was an insanely busy week for us.... sorry for the delay.

We weren't able to email on Labor Day, because our preferred library was closed, and no others in the area were either! So we got some time today to do so. I would have been very upset had we been denied the opportunity to email home, especially since my next p day isn't until the 10^th (yay transfer weeks! P day gets moved to the day before transfer days so those who are moving have time to pack... Of course we don’t know whether or not we're moving until the Monday before, sooooo).

The reasons they're having missionaries teach members the lessons are many. One is so they can have the opportunity to practice without fear of TOTALLY ruining someone toward the church. Members, especially converts and those who have served missions, are able to ask questions or share stories to help them with those they might be teaching. It gives them the opportunity to get to know the families on a spiritual level. Of course the big thing though is to get families comfortable with the missionaries and with talking about the gospel, because every member is supposed to be a missionary, and ideally missionaries would never have to tract because they're too busy with all the referrals that they've received from members. It also means those investigators already have a fellowshipper who can help them after the missionaries are gone. Its way easier to work with people who are already somewhat prepared by a member and it also allows them to find out if you're up to being a missionary with them- missionaries ideally bring members to their lessons, so they can make friends, fellowship, and also testify of the missionary's message.

(response to a question we asked). We get 155$ a month to live on. That covers everything from food to hygiene stuff. It’s fairly cheap all things considered. We get a fair amount of food from the members too (I think we've not had a meal with members/investigators maybe 2 or 3 times since I've gotten here. I understand that it’s more normal to not eat with others in places with lower member populations, but really good meal coordinators will ask non-members they know to feed us too. So it works out. I usually save a chunk of that to cover when we eat out with the district once a week, so I'm getting pretty good at budgeting. It definitely helps that we can only buy stuff once a week, so I write it down and usually by the time P-day rolls around I know if I actually need it or not. PB&J, mac and cheese, bagels with ham, tuna and tomato soup... I like the recipes you sent me, and ones with under an hour prep time I'll probably try when I'm in an area where we don't get fed as much so I can actually get through all the left overs. Definitely gotten good at just eating what we have, since the opportunity and finances don't really allow for much else. We're also fed really regularly by members and investigators, so we've never once so far gone hungry. Mom sent some recipes I'll be hoarding for when we're fed less in smaller areas. I haven't been left wanting, though I have used my card once or twice for the things I'm not supposed to use those funds for (mattress pad, pens, tape, etc.) I'm good. I'll definitely let you know if there's anything I can't get. I pulled some money out for a rainy day/getting cold weather gear. There's a lady here who sells alpaca socks, and they're apparently really good for rain/snow, because they wick moisture and stay warm and stuff.

Things are pretty good here. Staying relatively cool. We have 4 investigators with a baptismal date, and will hopefully have a 5th by the end of today. We'll see how our lesson later goes. Two are siblings of Cindy, a recent convert who was baptized last month. One is our Jehovah's Witness teen who won't have a home by the end of this week over it, and the other is Ana, the daughter of a returning active. We'll be working with Sue tonight, she's really keen on the gospel. We've got a date picked out for her in mid-October, but it means her boyfriend of ten years either has to marry her or find a new place to live for a while until he is ready to marry her. I would hope he'd get his act together and do it, since they have 2 kids together and he cares enough to stick around...? So we'll see how that goes.

We had an investigator drop us today because she couldn't quit smoking and didn't want to stop going to her other church, even though she says she knows the Book of Mormon is true and she wants to be baptized? But she still wants to feed us and visit us though... As much as I would be okay with being friends, that’s not what we're out here to do.

It’s hard to explain some of the things we do to those who haven't seen it themselves. Tracting (knocking door-to-door) is still baffling, even to me, and the polite 'let’s make another appointment' and then not showing up and leaving us to make sure we ALWAYS have a backup plan to fill in the hour time we set aside for these people is frustrating. I never feel quite good enough, but it's coming.
I'm coming to love the people, and I'm coming to love the area. It’s like a humid, green slice of down town LA. I don't know what I'll do when they transfer me to a little podunk town even the locals have never heard of. But it’ll come then too I guess.

Much love. I think of you and the family daily, and pray a lot.

Christine