Easter and Knowledge

Well let's talk about Easter first.  We woke up,opened packages (thank you mom) and then we made french toast.  We went to church and HEATHER showed up with her husband and baby girl.  She is the one who wants to be baptized.  We asked her what the hold up is and she doesn't feel like she fits the bill.  She doesn't feel like she fits in with the Mormon crowd. I don't know if you guys have any suggestions on how to help but I'm all ears. Then we contacted for a while... people don't like it when missionaries contact on holidays here.  They are usually rude.  But there was a crazy guy on the corner that was holding a giant wooden cross and yelling religious things through a megaphone and we got to talk to him for awhile!  He was really nice even though he smelled like B.O. really bad.  Then we went to dinner and we scheduled three member families to go have fun with so we wouldn't get yelled at anymore.  One of them was less active, and the other had non-members there so we felt we were still partially doing the work:)  

We went to the M's and they are like our Mom and Dad in this area.  They are ward missionaries and they come to a bunch of lessons with us.  She gave us chocolate yesterday and we got to visit with them for a little while.  I really love them.  He works at Disneyland and she is just the sweetest lady ever.

We did quite a bit of contacting this week and we met a few really cool people. We still see miracles every single day. People in California either love or hate missionaries.  So far on my mission I think I've encountered EVERY anti-Mormon thing there is and I've been called some really negative and mean things. But it's interesting because those things don't really bog  me down.  They kind of lift me up.  I know what I know. I know there is a God, I know He loves me, I know this is His church.  I have my ups and downs but people can't pull down something you know.

I hope you all have a good week.

Love, Sister Webb

Me and Sister Watson at Grandma and Grandpa's apartment for lunch

Grandma made a yummy lunch for the some of the Sister Missionaries!  She's the BEST!!

WEEK 27 - CHANGE

This week was a really good week.  

We found new investigators, we taught a few older investigators, we visited several less active families, and we knocked and walked. Just normal. 

This week I studied change.  Our mission has had a big focus on change and I was asked to give a talk on any topic I wanted to address in Sacrament Meeting yesterday, so I chose CHANGE.  There are so many analogies, so many scriptures, so many talks just on change.  It makes me want to change.  SO AS OF YESTERDAY- I picked a few things I wanted to change and everyone reading this email can ask me if I've changed them yet. 

I feel like if you were to personify change it would have a really quiet heart.  Our hearts tend to have a steady beat unless we exercise (or do a few other things). To increase our heart rate in this life is necessary. We need to be exercising our bodies so we are capable of doing the things God wants us to be doing. We need to exercise to become stronger.  For everyone though exercise is hard.  It leaves you sore and it can make you tired. It's also much easier to stay home and relax than go run a marathon. Change is much the same way. We need to stretch ourselves.  We need to become stronger. It's good for us- but it is hard.  It will leave you sore.  It's not always what you want to do- many times it's easier for us to not change... but what's the good in that?

SO CHANGE!  That's officially the theme of the week.

I love you all so much!  

Love, Sister Webb

La Mirada

La Mirada is beautiful!  There are so many hills and there are more parks than Cypress.  That's not to say that it is not crowded.  There are still houses on top of houses and homes are packed like sardines on streets, but it is very pretty here. This week was a really good week.

The majority of this ward is inactive, a bit over half of them to be exact.  The people that are active here though are amazing.  The work is really starting to pick up. We don't have any solid investigators (but we will soon), and we don't consistently teach any less actives (but we will soon).  We found so many people to teach this week - just from knocking and walking.  We have been guided to homes,  found less active members, and have felt God pouring souls in our teaching pool.  We have such a strong desire to help everyone we see.

We found a family- they are Filipino. We knocked on their door and taught the full Restoration lesson.  They invited us back! They have two beautiful little girls and have met with the missionaries before when they lived in Vegas.  

We also went to the Relief Society President's house to see how we can help in the ward.  Her daughter-in-law came up to us and said she wants to learn more about the church.  She said she wants to be baptized!  (THAT NEVER HAPPENS) So we are going back this week to teach her and plan to set a baptismal date with her.  

We have found a few young girls that feel inadequate. Why do young girls so often feel inadequate?  

We testified of the Savior and how he can help us.  It was really amazing. 

We are working and loving everyone. 

Love, Sister Webb

Lunch at a pizza place (with GF pizza of course) after Zone Meeting.  So fun to have Grandpa and Grandma close by!!

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Change . . .

Well, Jessica was transferred out of Cypress today to WHITTIER!!  YES!  That's where my parents are serving!  She is not assigned to their ward, but she is in their zone and can go to their place for meals and see them much more than she has!  My parents head back to Utah on July 5th, so hopefully these last 4 months they can serve with Jessica and have common friends and those they love to talk about for years to come!

Jessica & her companion sang in a musical fireside that the missionaries put on.  Mom and Dad were able to go and listen to her

Instead of a letter this week, Jessica sent pictures recapping her last 6 months in Cypress.  I woke up from a nap on Sunday afternoon to a myriad of messages from the people in her ward who love her and have taken her in like family.  It took me several hours to compose myself after reading the emails and texts, but I felt SO MUCH Gratitude for these amazing members!

The first text came from M & L who were recently baptized and who our family spent time with over Christmas break.  She wrote:

"Well, Jessica is being transferred.  I've been crying my heart out all morning, even in Sacrament meeting.  I assured her that I am here for her no matter what and if she needs anything to let me know.  I love your daughter.  Thank you for sharing her with me.  She went with me to pray at my daughter's place of rest.  That meant the world to me that someone cares that much.  She is special."

Then this email from a lady in Jessica's ward who has taken extra care to make sure Jessica has GF food to eat:

Dear Julie,

My name is E . . .  and I have enjoyed the wonderful experience of getting to know your sweet missionary daughter in our Cypress 2^nd and then La Palma ward here in Southern California.  When I found out she was getting transferred, I knew I had to write to you and tell you how much we have come to love her!! She has brought such a grace and beauty and sincerity to her service.  I can’t tell you how many times her angelic singing has brought me to tears and her testimony has touched my heart so much.  As I watched her work with M & L  , a couple who recently got baptized, I knew she was sent here for a reason. They and everyone else just love her so much.  She really is an angel. You should be so very proud of her.   When she told our ward she was leaving during her testimony, you could hear the audible sad sigh in the congregation.  We don’t want her to go!! But we know she will continue to bless lives wherever the Lord sends her.

Thank you for raising such a special child.  And thank you for sharing her with us who are so blessed to have had the chance to know her.

Then this angel lady in the ward who has sent me random pictures of Jessica since she arrived:

"I've been where you are.  My daughter came home from her mission a year ago.  I know how special it is to see pictures and to know people there are watching over them!  I'm glad we could all be here to help her transition into her mission!  I know this move will be good for her, but it will be hard not seeing her beautiful smile each week!"

Here are Jessica's pictures with her "captions" under them

The home I've come to love!  This is where we study every morning

Our shared kitchen

The grand piano that I will miss!

Our "mission mom" who always made sure we had food to eat.  Sister P.

This cute girl reminds me of my sister Sarah in Cali Form!

I love this member family!  They remind me of Jim and Rachel!

This member lady is paralyzed.  We get to go over and clean her home, fix her lunch, and help her with anything else she needs.  We Love Her!

This is the member that took us in over Christmas.  She is of Finnish decent and we had a wonderful Christmas in her home!

Another pic of our home

My bed is the bottom bunk

Me and the referral that didn't answer the door

We found a hammock and REAL grass!  We had to take a pic and . . 

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Lay down on the grass!

Me and my comp at the end of a LONG day!  We look and feel tired:

I LOVE these Pink Fluffy trees!  They are legitimately like that.  Crazy Pink Fluff all over the WHOLE TREE!  It. Was. Amazing!

My Quarterly Temple Trip

Hi Everyone!

This week was an amazing week for us.  We saw so many miracles. We had a ward party and Sister S throws the best ward parties in the whole world. It was a potluck but somehow dessert seemed to be the main dish.  They had cute decorations we got to help set up, and they had some really fun activities. We had several investigators and new members there!  Who knew how missionary oriented a ward party could be!  It was INCREDIBLE and it made my week!

I also got to go to the temple today.  I am never taking the temple for granted again. We are only allowed to go every three months and that is KILLING me. As a missionary you are on a spiritual high all the time, so you want to be in the temple often! I feel like the temple is a huge part of spiritual growth.  You can feel the Spirit in there like nothing I have ever experienced.  I also got to see my Grandparents!  My Grandma was my temporary companion because my companion is going later in the month with a recent convert.  That was a ton of fun. It made me a little homesick ( I really love my mom and miss her but that's okay :).

I hope you all have a good week! I love you all!

Love, Sister Webb

Families Are Everything!

This week was really really busy (as they all are).

The thing about missionary work is that it's busy all the time!  I do different things every day, but it all mushes together and I don't know what actually happened. 

We went to the LA Temple visitors center on Saturday with M &L and a wonderful older couple (Bro. & Sister P) from our ward. That was a really cool experience!  We felt the spirit as we talked about eternal families and temple ordinances. I love the people I have met in this area and ward!  I love them so much and I would do anything for them.  It is going to be so hard when I have to leave. We are going to celebrate Sister P's birthday on Tuesday and we have a BUSY week ahead of us.  We have been finding like CRAZY and are planning on converting everyone in our area (just to let you know).

We also had zone conference on Friday. That took all day, but it was also a neat experience.  We mostly talked about missionary work (surprise) but they also stressed the importance of family history work. I have actually started to work on family history a little bit and I am really enjoying it. I have an incredible family and amazing ancestors.  I feel like they have really helped me on my mission, especially at my lower moments.

There is nothing like family.  Family is the most important organization in the eternities. Being on a mission and being at this point in my life is going to impact my future family quite a bit.  It will determine later decisions I have to make, and it has helped me recognize what I want in an eternal family!  I know God puts us in our families for a reason. Some families have a really hard time. I work with struggling families every. single. day. I can promise that God puts us exactly where we need to be.  So when family life gets hard, I think it's important to have faith that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and he will help us rise above our challenges.  He has a plan for everyone!  It's hard because His plan is not always our plan . . . but that's okay.  By trusting in Him, it makes everything that is hard okay in the end!  I know this is true!

I love you all, have a good week!

Love, Jess

Last Week's Email That Didn't Go Through . . . Dated February 15th

Hello Everyone!  Email is back up and running.  I thought this got sent last week, but it didn't.  Here is a recap:

We got to do service this week on Friday for HOURS and HOURS!  We cleaned up the yard of an old abandon house and we still aren't done.  The whole zone was working on it. All the elders and the sisters... and we didn't even touch the backyard.  It was a ton of fun.  It was hot, but we worked hard and it felt really good.  

Oh that's the other thing... It's HOT!  It's not even jacket weather.  It's just warm. There is also this crazy fog that we sometimes see in the morning.  It has only happened four or five times since I've been out so far... but it happened this week.  I would take a picture of it to show you, but you can't take pictures of fog:)

We have spent most of our time finding.  When we don't have appointments (we only have 1 or 2 a day) we are out finding.   Finding means walking (by the way).  It is busy but it's a different kind of busy.  It is a busy that takes some getting use to.  At the beginning of my mission, it felt like a giant waste of time. I felt like I was just walking and talking to people who didn't want to talk to me.  But the miracles we see when we are walking are crazy.  It's not every day that we see miracles.  Sometimes we walk for like two or three hours and we don't end up with anything worthwhile. That's always hard. Sometimes we have success though, and that's exciting!

FOR EXAMPLE:  This Saturday we were walking an entire tract.  Tracts here are like blocks on steroids.  Think of Nolan Park in Eagle Mountain.  A tract is about 5 Nolan Park's wide and 8 long! We had two and a half hours so we decided during daily planning that we were going to walk from one potential investigator to another on the other side of the block and contact everyone we could on the way there.  We tried both potential investigators and we were leaving the complex.  A lady was yelling at someone in her house (not friendly) and  we knew we should contact her.  We were tired and we had been completely rejected for the past two hours. My companion looked at me and walked away from me and the lady . . . but I set a goal to talk to everyone towards the beginning of my mission.  So I walked up to her, introduced myself and she said, "Hi Sisters!  I just moved here with my husband. I'm inactive but I was baptized as a teenager but I LOVE the missionaries.  Do you want to come in and teach my husband and I?"  So we got water bottles, a new less active member, and a new investigator (her husband).  TALK TO EVERYBODY. Hardest most rewarding missionary rule ever!  You don't even know how many times I have been so close to not talking to someone, and when I do, they end up needing us.  

Sure love you all!  Keep praying for me!  I feel it and it makes a BIG difference!!

Love, Sister Webb