Thursday, January 22, 2015

Re:



On Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 4:12 PM, Rebecca Redd <rebecca.redd@myldsmail.net> wrote:
Oh boy...
So A LOT happened these last 2 weeks...
First I'll explain why i'm emailing on a Thursday and not a Monday.
WE GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE! And let me tell you...it was AWESOME! There is honestly no where like the temple, and being able to go with my friends and with members i love so much was GREAT :) 
But anyways because of that today is our p-day instead of this past Monday.

K sooo like a said a ton happened....but i will do my best to sum it all up into a few stories...

I will start with the Homes Family :)
Man do i LOVE that family... This week we were able to teach them the Word of Wisdom. I was so nervous..But it ended up going so well! At first they were a little hesitant but just explained how important it is, and sister Huntington and I both have super strong testimonies of the word of wisdom and so we just bore testimony, invited them to live it, and they said okay :) haha they said that they'd start with smoking :) They're now down from 1 1/2 packs a day EACH to a little under a pack a day... SO they're getting there :) Other than that, theyre doing good, and our ward is really coming around to help them soo hopefully things will continue to go awesome!
Oh and one other cool thing, During one of our lessons the MOM pulled out this really old quote that her grandmother gave her when she was younger. She was all excited to show us, and when we ready it it was the Hymn "Did you think to pray?" She thinks some one in her family used to be a member! it was cool.

We visited a lot of people and i had a few mini freak outs this week where the fact that i was going home started to click in my mind...NOT cool.. haha I am REALLY going to miss being a missionary, this is the greatest calling...and sometimes i really dont want to give it up haha. But its okay im doing good and im getting used to the idea...

We had a SUPER cool miracle this week! So one night sister Huntington and i sat down to do our nightly planning, i was looking at our area map, and i saw this little road that goes WAY up into the mountain..so i looked as sister Huntington and said, we should drive up there! i bet no one ever goes up there!
So we decided we'd go all the way up the mountain...So the next day that what we go do and going up the mountain, this road is lined with little trailer homes. At the very top though the road dead ends into this MASSIVE home. we stopped admired it and then turned around to find a house to knock on. We got 1/4 of a mile down the road when we looked at each other and were realized how dumb it was that we went to the very top and didn't knock on their door! so we went back up and right when we got there, a girl came out of the house. We talked to her for a second and almost immediately she invited us in. As we kept talking to us she told us she used to go to church and be religious but she had kind of fell away from it and was wanting to get back into it. We were so excited and told her that as missionaries our job was to help people do that. Then she told us she wanted to be baptized! she said it was something she had always wanted to do. So it was super exciting! haha we were all pumped about it! We'll be meeting with her tomorrow, so hopefully it goes well!!!

WE also had zone conference where i got to see a lot of the people i had served with for the last time :( .....We met a crazy lady that only has one eye....Held a MASSIVE cockroach (3-3 1/2 inches long).... well ill elaborate a little more on that one....
this family has 40ish reptiles i their home...Snakes lizards and all sorts of stuff and they breed roaches and rats to feed them, but they have one roach who is the family favorite and the kids LOVE it, so Demetri (the big roach) was named and he isn't used as food, but it kept as a pet...its kinda weird...but cool....
We also helped a lady decorate her house for a big party she was having and insisted on taking pictures of us by this background thing we helped set up....and thats about it....

haha k so it doesn't seem as crazy when i write it down...but i felt like a LOT happened this week. The time is seriously FLYING by...
Everyday when i realize im going home soon, it just doesn't feel real.
I'm doing my best to make the most of it though and i am LOVING IT.

 I love the gospel,I love my calling,  I love being a missionary, I love it here.
I miss you all, and as much as i love it here, i am excited to be home and see you all again :)

Hope you guys are doing great :)
Love Sister Redd


Monday, January 12, 2015

Hey everyone!
So i lost track of time reading everyone's emails and so im a little rushed...So ill try and get the highlights in :)

SO the best thing happening is the Home family. They are THE BEST. It was kind of a rough week for them because they are having a LOT of hard things happen in their lives right now...But they are all so great and i LOVE them :) This week we were able to take them to a baptism and they LOVED it! We also taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and about families being the central unit in the Gospel. It was great. I love when we just have lessons that are so filled with the spirit. One of the best things though was that after we said the closing prayer in one of our lessons, Mandy asked if she could ask us a question. She then Very seriously asked if we were allowed to show our ankles.... haha it was GREAT! we laughed and explained that we just wore boots all the time because it was really stinking cold up here for skirts :)
Man you gotta love the things people say about Mormon missionaries :)

Other cool things this week were that i got to help out on a farm, brushing horses and stuff and gathering the eggs/fixing a chicken coop. A horse sneezed on me...that was a good one haha. Umm It rained a TON.... I got to go to a Christmas party? haha apparently in Santa stays in Phelan well after Christmas...and thats about it.

I wish i had more time...but i will say one thing, as we have been trying to help the people here I have come to the overwhelming conclusion that life with out the gospel is..the worst. I am SO grateful that i have been blessed with know the gospel for my whole life because i have realized how hard it can be with out God's direction.

I think its a pretty good realization to come to in the last 4 weeks of your mission huh? haha 
Its crazy that everything is coming to a close soon, but just keep praying that i'll be able to finish strong :) because i definitely want to make the most of this!
I love you all SOOOO much!
Thanks for always writing me, even towards the end :)

Love 
Sister Becca Redd

p.s. for the few people that are allowed to come i added my departing devotional invite....kinda scary know that its already here!