Pictures 2-9-15

Weekly Letter 2-9-15

Hi Everyone!

Well, I'm officially in Santa Rosa. it's a whole lot different than Vacaville or Dixon, that's for sure. My new companion is very intense, It's her way or the highway, but she's funny and really tries hard to serve me and help me to learn this area as quickly as I can since she's going home next transfer. She likes to exercise and eat healthy too... :)

Santa Rosa is definitely an interesting place with lots of 'interesting' people. Though we have seen many miracles in the last couple of days. God is definitely providing for us and helping me to settle in here as much as possible. Yesterday was a day of miracles for sure! We've been asked as a mission to get 20 contacts every day, teach 3 lessons, and 1 baptismal invite every day. We knew that there was no way that we were going to get it yesterday, we were in meetings all day long and we had exactly 1 hour to do any proselyting at all! So we went out and hit the pavement and for the first time this week we met nice people and we were able to teach 2 street lessons and pick up a new investigator for the YSA Elders! It was really amazing to see Heavenly Father's hand in the work, and we were able to get our numbers!

I've learned several things this week:

1. The best time to read your scriptures and pray is when you really don't want to.
-The only way you're going to feel better is with the Lord's help, and you have to exercise your agency and let Him help you in order for Him to do so.

2. Don't procrastinate!

-The only way anything ever gets done is when you do what you know you have to do right as the though pops into your head. Don't ignore promptings :)

3. Be mindful of Gratitude

-many things happen in a day, both good and bad. When you focus on the things that went wrong in a day, it makes you miserable. When you focus on what went well, it allows you to see how God is blessing you and allows you to see what you can learn from both the good and bad situations.

4. When moving, make sure that you check and double check everywhere!

-if these places are left unchecked, important things might be forgotten, such as a coat and umbrella. These things are very important if moving to a rainy area!

5. Windex kills ants

- Washing ants down the drain doesn't work, they climb right back up. You must first spray them with windex, which kills them on impact, and then wash them down the drain. If not you might suffer at the hand of evil shower ants.

These were my great revelations for the week :) I hope that you can learn from them and apply them into your own lives, haha :)  Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Stay safe, stay dry, see miracles! Love you all!

Love,
Sister Lesser

Mom:
Hi! :) How is everything going? How was bear lake?  Most of the time when I feel trunky it's for Bear lake, I miss it a lot! Yes I got my package, thanks! I really like that foot massage thingy, it was super random and I wasn't expecting it, but I really enjoy it :)  My new companion is pretty intense. It's her way or the highway, but she's nice and funny. she's really healthy too, so maybe I'll start losing some of this weight I've gained. It's great because all I have to do is watch the AP's eat at dinner and eat as much as them and I'll lose weight :) They all eat like birds and there's some kind of no sugar diet that every missionary is on in Santa Rosa so the members aren't feeding us dessert, which is great :)  I just have to work on enjoying the area and learning to love the ward and the people. I just came from two of the best wards in the mission, so it's a hard adjustment. One of the members got angry with me the other day for inviting someone to be baptized, and in ward council they completely ignored the people that we're working with and focused on who the AP's are working with. It really disappointment me because the Elders are all over the mission and are never working in their area anyway, but they didn't even address our investigators, so nobody knew that we were going to have a new investigator and two less active members at church. I'll get used to it though. I'm sure the ward is great in their own way.  It's been pretty tough. I think it might also be because my half way point is coming up this Saturday. I've heard that this happens to a lot of missionaries. It sure did with Sister Clawson and Sister Holguin! So hopefully I'll get over it soon and learn to love the people here in Santa Rosa. Sister Holguin absolutely raved about it, so there has to be something good. It is very beautiful here. The most beautiful area I've served in by far. Everything is super green forest with tons of different types of trees, it's really beautiful. We're also pretty close to the beach, so we're probably going to go there next monday, so i'm excited for that!  Haha, I can see Tyson doing that :) I miss the puppies...and Titan :)  Thanks for the dark chocolate.  It was exactly what I needed that night. Santa Rosa has been pretty stressful, the people are pretty mean, so being able to eat a peace of dark chocolate was, for lack of a better word, comforting :)  I love you!

Dad:
Were you an AP on your mission? It's really weird eating dinner with the AP's. It's pretty intimidating giving dinner lessons with the AP's there judging you. The ward is fine. The people in Santa Rosa are pretty crazy to say the least. I can't even imagine getting sent to a place like Eureka! I really miss Vacaville, but I've prayed about it and I know that I'm here for a reason. I feel like coming to Santa Rosa has me starting from level 0 again, I feel like a greenie! It's hard to move to a new area, but I'm sure I'll start to love it soon. I'm not the driver anymore, thank goodness :) Mandee sent me a video of her singing, she has a beautiful voice, she's very talented and you can tell that she practices a lot and works very hard at it, I'm impressed with her :) Haha, I can't even imagine you standing on a corner singing to people! That would be quite the sight :) I'll take that into consideration next time we need to come up with a finding activity :)

I love you! Hope you have a great week! Thanks for the jerky!

Mandee:

Wow, your singing and piano playing was beautiful, you've really developed your talent :) You look like you've been losing weight too. Share with me your secrets! haha. So are you planning on being in the Shakespeare play? Good job on learning piano, keep practicing, seriously!! it will be a skill that you'll need for the rest of your life :) Love you! Have fun with play practice!

PS. You're still 15, you're not allowed to have a Valentine! :)

Tyson:

Congrats on being taller than Mandee! I'm sure she's not too happy about that :) That's so crazy, that means you're taller than me! haha

I haven't really eaten anything weird lately. We ate at a really yummy restaurant the other day though :) It's called Boudins and it makes the best sour dough bread ever! Their Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches are to die for :) You'll have to go some time if you ever go to California :) Love you, have a great week! Have fun in school!

Grandma Bowcutt:
I'm glad you guys got to have fun in Bear Lake! When do Allyson and the girls head home? That's too bad that there wasn't really any snow up there! The years just keep getting dryer and dryer, I keep praying for rain! It actually rained here the last 3 days, so that was a good thing :)

Drive safe to St. George! Have fun! I hope that Grandpa is feeling better and that his recovery continues to go well :) Love you!

Grandma Nanna:
I hope that your flight went well and that you're back home safely! I'm glad that Aunt Libby is back to normal and feeling better! Hopefully she continues to recover and everything goes well with the tests. Haha, That sounds like how it is here in Santa Rosa, almost all of the missionaries have boycotted all sugar :) I'm glad that you and Grandpa are doing well! Have a great week! Love you!

Pictures 2-2-15

Weekly Letter 2/2/15

Hi Everyone!

This week has been pretty hectic! It was crazy trying to accomplish as much as we could in the last week of the transfer, but it all paid off because we found some sweet new families to teach! We were tracting yesterday and almost every door we knocked on invited us in or invited us to come back, my mind was blown! Tender mercies! We ended up meeting a woman whose husband had passed away last week and we were able to testify of the plan of salvation. We were also able to meet a cool Hindu family, it was really interesting to learn a little about what they believe and to share our beliefs with them.

Sadly I'm getting transferred out of Vacaville. I'm headed to the Santa Rosa Brush Creek ward. I'm excited and super nervous all at the same time because it's the mission president's ward! Scary! I'm sure it will be good though :) We spent all day packing today and I'm exhausted! Getting transferred is decidedly one of the most stressful things that happens on a mission!

I hope you all have a great week! Love you!

PS.

My new address is:

4663 Sonoma Highway

Santa Rosa, CA 95409

Love,
Sister Lesser

Mom:

What's up? how is everything going? I did end up getting transferred. I'm going to the Santa Rosa Brush creek ward. That's President Albas ward and I'm freaking out about it! They're bringing me closer to keep an eye on me :) haha It was pretty hard saying goodbye to everyone yesterday, I've really grown to love this ward. The saddest part was our recent convert Zach. He came up to me and shook my hand and was like, "Thank you so much for all that you've done, I really appreciate it, you've really changed my life." I seriously almost broke into tears :( I'm going to miss vacaville a lot!  My new companion is Sister Finlinson. I've been on exchanges a few times with her, she's nice but really intense. I'm pretty nervous about being her companion, but I'm sure everything will work out. God gave me a tender mercy though, because one of my best friends on the mission is going to be my new roommate, we're both moving there together from Vacaville, so I'm excited for that :)  Sister Finlinson goes home in 6 weeks. I still don't like talking in front of people :P but Sister Alba pretty much told me that I'm probably going to be a Sister Training Leader next transfer though, so I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for that!  Probably the only reason why I'm excited to leave Vacaville is because I won't be fed dessert every single night! I'm bursting at the seams! I'm going on a life style change, my new companion is SUPER healthy and loves to exercise, so I'm looking forward to that :)  haha, we were packing all morning and I came to the realization that I have way too much stuff! But I need it and I don't know what to do about it! haha :) I was able to get most of it packed up, not all in the two suitcases, but it's a work in progress :) I would send some stuff home, but I don't know what to send home because I need everything! The struggle is real!!  Love you!

Mandee:

It looks like you are having lots of fun! Your hair is cute :) I'm glad that you've been able to get involved with so much stuff, but I hope you're not overwhelming yourself. Remember to pray and read your scriptures every day :) Love you!

Kari:

I'm glad you guys are doing well and keeping busy! I can't believe how old everyone is getting! When does Kaden put in his mission papers? Where is he hoping to go? :) haha

I hope that everyone is doing well, tell Kylee good luck with Soccer! I love you guys! Have a great week!

Grandma Nanna:

I'm glad that aunt Libby is feeling better! I sure hope it's not Lupus! I'm keeping her in my prayers. Haha, I need to be doing all of that healthy eating and working out with you! The only reason why I'm glad to be leaving Vacaville is because I won't be getting dessert every single night, I'm bursting at the seams!! haha :) I hope that Libby continues to feel better! Thanks for the pictures, I love getting to see how everyone is doing!! Love you! Have a great week!

Grandma Bowcutt:

I'm glad that you were able to make it home safely and that Grandpa is starting to feel better! He's always in my prayers. I hope that Allyson and the girls have a good time in Utah and that the funeral goes well. we had a funeral not too long ago here for a lady who was very dear to all of our hearts. It was really sad, but having the knowledge that we have that they're in a better place and with their loved ones is very comforting :) Have a great week! Love you all!

Lacey:

Hey, It's good to hear from you! I love the pictures, so cute! I'm sad that I wasn't able to see you guys over skype too, but I'm sure you guys had a better time in California anyway! haha :) I hope everything is going well for you guys and that the puppies are being good for you! How are all of your kids? is Skylee still doing Soccer? It looks like they're all having lots of fun :) Love you have a great week!