Week 8

Yesterday was one month in Cali and later this week will be two months as a missionary- pretty crazy if you ask me.

Where to begin... Camp Pendleton is a marine corps base that's about 30 minutes from here. Usually only elders go since there are more male recruits but last week there were a ton of females at church so guess what?? They told Sister Hill and I that we'd be going YAY!!! We drove down on Tuesday for a meeting to get a pass that lets you go on base, but after waiting around for a while, we realized said meeting was actually the next Tuesday (tomorrow). Stay tuned for how it goes this upcoming week.

We had 3 exchanges this week so it was a little crazy. One was with some Hermanas all the way down in Escondido which is the bottom of our mission. The exchange was in a Spanish area so I was just a gringa hanging out. Ate some yummy member food and practiced my holas.

Our 4th was quite uneventful but we still had a good time. My family was in Lake Powell so I might've been a little jealous. We did have a bbq with the Sisters and ate those divine holiday sugar cookies from Walmart. Sister Hill and I gave a zone training on rising to our role as soldiers in the army of God- very patriotic. Our focus was on the armies of Helaman SO GOOD. All time favorite BoM story. Go read Alma 56 + 57:25-27 to have your mind blown.

Oh I wanted to add that one morning our gym was closed so we went to a highschool track and I ran bleachers. It felt like summer drill all over again haha I miss dance a TON but I do it when I can and stretch lots. Also if you know the song Ob-la-di Ob-la-da thank you because I keep asking people if they know it and nobody does.

Spiritual thought for week ocho: Sometimes I feel inadequate- that I don't know enough or I get on myself for different things. Yesterday during sacrament meeting (fav time of week) I took these feelings to God and a thought came into my head that the key is focusing on turning outward rather than focusing on myself and turning inward. It can be really easy to get caught up in our own lives and our own struggles, but when we turn our attention to those around us we become so much happier and those struggles seem to go away. I realized that this mission isn't really about me, it's about our brothers and sisters who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ! And I've probably said this before but you don't need a tag to be a missionary. We can all share light and joy to those around us as we turn outward!

Transfers are next Wednesday which means we find out what's happening on Saturday... there's a 75% chance I get kicked out of here because of the weird stl situation but pray I stay in the promised land aka San Clemente. Love everyone everywhere say your prayers, He wants to hear from you.