Where am I?

WHAT WORLD AM I IN!?

Turns out Hanford is a completely different world than Fresno! All week long I've been asking my companion "Sister...where am I?" We live in a little apartment (same complex as our Zone leaders and District leader) that is filled with these bugs they call "June bugs" BUT THEY"RE NOT JUNE BUGS! They're these giant ugly yellow looking cockroaches! They're about the size of my thumb and they run all over! Sick, sick, sick!! I'll squash them all! We also don't have AC in our apartment except for the one room we sleep in...helps on days that it's 109 like today! I also thoroughly enjoy the sound of the train that passes by every couple hours...Sister, we're not in Fresno anymore! BUT aside from all that, I really love it down here! I don't have anything to complain about :) I love this area, people are a little more humble down here, which seems to help us find more success. We've got two baptisms set, one for the 21st (he needs to come to church once more), and one for the 28th (she's all set!). People seem to be much more willing to listen to us then in my last areas. We cover an area that to me is large, but then again I only have previous areas to compare it to. 

We forgot we have an appointment!! AH!! Sorry this was short! Got to run!!!

Love you!

Sister LeStarge

I'm finally spreading my wings

​GOOOOD MORNING! As President Gelwix likes to say, "It's a great day to be a Mormon Missionary."

I had quite the fantastic weekend if I do say so myself! CASSIE GOT BAPITZED!! Baptisms are the greatest things in the whole wide world!! Someone just entered the gates to salvation! Who could ask for something better than that? It's no wonder she went around all week telling people "The greatest day of my life is coming up!" What a wonderful day:) She was blessed to have such a great turn out from the ward (something needed since her family isn't exactally the most supportive). When she was handing out invitations for her baptism she thought to invite a man her families company gets their supplies from, when he asked her "what church are you being baptized in?" she was a little hesitant to say LDS (as she had been getting grief from everyone she has previously invited) the man perked right up and said "I'm LDS too!". He was able to bring his wife and family. She also had support from her Chiropractor who she had always admired for being strong in our faith. Other than those two people and their families, only her ward family was in attendance, but they love and adore her so that's all the support she needs. After the meeting several members commented on the spirit felt in her service. The best part was when she came up out of the water, fist pumped and cried "WOOHOO!" YES! Woohoo is right! You got baptized Cassie! My favorite part of her baptism though was when she bore her testimony. She told us of how she thinks relationships are the most important things, and how she had been neglecting her relationship with Christ. She at one point said "Christ has been knocking on the door of my heart for a long time now, and now that I'm baptized I've finally let Him in". She's not someone who just stumbled upon the happiness found in the church, she's truly committed to the Gospel. We had dinner with her that night, and she told us how when we first met her she was pretty busy and didn't really feel she had time to meet with us. However, because we were such nice girls she didn't want to disappoint us so she came to church to please us. Well the jokes on her because she loved church from the first day she attended! You just need to feel the spirit a little to get hooked :) It was over all a wonderful baptism.

  The next great part of my weekend was....drum roll please! I"M BEING TRANSFERED! I'm SO stink'n excited!!! I thought for sure I'd be spending my whole entire mission in Fresno but now I get to spread my wings!!! I've been hoping for a long time to see other parts of the mission...now all of my dreams are coming true. They'll be moving me Wednesday down to Hanford, which is the mid-southern part of the mission. I hear the water smells like rotten eggs but I don't even care because I'm getting out!! I'll be companions with Sister Bee, who was trained by the very same trainer I had! She'll be with me for one transfer then be on her way home, so it's time to learn a new area fast!

Have to run.
LOVE YOU!
Sister LeStarge

She Did It!!

Kurt Kuhn (baptized 2 years ago a great missionary) Cassie, Sister Olson (who found Cassie with me at the gas station) Me, Sister Ard (who taught Cassie with me)

CASSIE GOT BAPTIZED!!!

Temple Day!

Our zone at the temple! It wasn't until after the picture that I realized I forgot my tag in the dressing room....oops!

Saturday is a Special Day

Happy Temple Day!

Isn't the Temple just the greatest place ever? I'm so glad (and blessed) that we get to go every quarter in our mission!

Well, just as the primary song goes "Saturday is a special day!" because WE'RE BAPTIZING!!!! It's the greatest thing ever to find, teach and baptize one of our Heavenly Fathers children! We've finished teaching the lessons to our investigator and she's all set, just pray she passes her baptismal interview!! This week we had a great relief society activity that she not only attended but invited a friend to! Not even a member of the church yet and already sharing the gospel as much as she can!! I LOVE when my investigators share the gospel, it helps remind me that yes the gospel IS very exciting!!

I'm running short on time but I love you all and am excited for transfer calls this Saturday! Perhaps I'll finally leave the heart of Fresno!

Love you!
Sister LeStarge

The Devil's Work-Out

Hey There,

   This week has proven to be the most painful week on my mission yet! While on exchanges this week I quickly realized I forgot my shoes for our morning (required 20 minute) run! Without shoes I locked my companion and I into the members back yard to do some kind of home-made workout...that was my mistake. Standing on the patio barefoot I felt great as I proceeded to do 50 jumping-jacks! Then using a narrow strip of cement pathway I tried lunges. Another 50 jumping-jacks, some high knee jumps, more lunges, more jumping-jacks and so on, and so on. I worked up quite a sweat and felt better than I did after a run! Feeling pretty proud of myself I hit the shower. It probably didn't even take an hour for me to realize I made the biggest mistake of my life by forgetting to stretch properly before and after...muscles aren't very merciful. I've struggled going up and down the flight of stairs to our apartment, getting in and out of the car and even carrying my bag on my sore shoulder! Jumping-jacks are the devil's work-out. For the past few weeks as my companion has been in Physical Therapy all the while I've had to massage out knots in her back. This week the tables turned as she dug her fingers into my shoulders, back and legs trying to work out my knots....companions aren't very merciful either...

    This week I also experienced the most amount of anxiety I've ever felt in my life! We had set up Saturday for one of our members to pick up our investigator for church. Come Sunday morning though, she informed the member she would drive herself and meet us all there. 15 minutes before sacrament started she let us know she was still coming and would be there ASAP! We waited patiently as church started. Half way through the meeting she still wasn't there! We again texted her to ask If she was on her way. 10 minutes before the meeting ended she plopped down next to us. What a relief! She was able to stay for the following two meetings, which was perfect because she got to meet so many members!  She felt very loved as most members mentioned how they had heard a lot about her and had been praying for her. After church got out we asked her if she had a time this week we could meet with her to prepare her further for baptism, she suggested right then! Instead we took her to the next wards sacrament informing her she needed to attend two sacrament meetings before her baptism. She now meets the requirements! Next week She'll be coming to church on time to hear my companion and I perform a musical number via cello and piano...do ask me how I got talked into that one...

Have a great week!
l Love you all and am praying for you!

Love,

Sister LeStarge 

Atheists and Dead Dogs

Bonjour! (look at me thinking up new ways to say hello to you!)

Well as always we had some pretty outrageous adventures this week!! It's always an exciting day to be a Mormon missionary! You don't even have time to blink or you might miss something ;) I of course had a fabulous 21st birthday!! When I say "fabulous" I really mean "well fed"....as it turns out when you tell people its your birthday as a missionary, odds are they'll hand you some kind of food...mine was no exception! I started my day off right with a nice brunch! courtesy of sweet members who took us out. I continued through my day with eating Ribs....twice! Which I have to admit made me feel like it was my birthday because its my birthday meal every year.  Then just before I thought my day was done I got delicious angel food cake and strawberries! Can't have a birthday with out cake! Even though I like pie much more....Over all though it was a great missionary birthday!!

The excitement doesn't stop there though! While driving this week my companion and I found a miracle! We received a text from a number requesting we meet with them and share the lessons! HOT DOG! Some one wants to hear from us! WE were able to make it to their home just an hour later only to find out it was a single man! Shoot, cant exactly walk right into his home...the Lord blessed us though to have a recently called ward missionary available at that moment!! We picked her up and sped back to his house! While getting to know him we learned his girlfriend is a member of another ward, and they've been dating for some time now. He being atheist has a lot of questions he would ask her, and she finally feeling overwhelmed turned him over to us. He's very open to learning and discovering truth. We have high hopes of building Faith in him in Jesus Christ, though we feel he'll be a little bit of a challenge.

 Another one of our investigators was unable to come to church this week, which was a bummer considering we had lunch with her the day prior and she assured us she'd be there. On easter she went to adopt a dog from the SPCA and was unable to make it to church for that reason....yesterday she couldn't make it to church because the very dog she had just adopted died!! Not feeling too upset because she had just adopted her, she needed to still take care of the body by having it cremated. Still sad for her though....on a more positive note, one of our neighbors who is like a dad to us, and is constantly feeding us, adopted a puppy this week!! A sweet little bundle of fluff. He's agreed to let us do him a service by taking the little thing for a walk everyday! He's a little Australian Shepherd. While playing with him he practically gnawed my arm off with is little razors in his mouth so now I look like some animal mauled me!  Oh the love I have for little puppies....

It was yet another great week though! I know my mission has caused me to have a "mighty change of heart". I know I am being blessed more than I know by serving my Lord each day. Its a privilege to be here!

Love,

Sister LeStarge