Feb 26

hello all!

thanks again for all the mail and packages! i wish i had the time and resources to send more home. i know im super behind. actually with all letters im super behind. ive sent less than 5 this last 3 months. busy busy pdays. responses are coming! things should be a little easier now that its just the two of us and less holidays :] would you believe im still working on thank you cards from christmas. yikes.

sister repman and i are now covering the brookside ward. is been real great. and we keep ourselves almost too busy. the blessed land of stockton always has so much work to do and so many people who are receptive. its just weeding of who is ready and who is not process that's difficult.

we moved this week! we now live with members in our ward. its different. good but a new experience. we have our own bed and bath room and free range of the kitchen and living room. its a nice and very neat and tidy home so we are very careful about leaving any dishes in the sink or have less than perfect tidiness in our room. yes i'm developing good habits ;]

this week i received grandma oliphants patriarchal blessing in the mail from the church archives. its so neat to feel her spirit and study more about her life. i do miss her so much and know the rest of the family does too. its a really special blessing and fits her so perfectly. our heavenly father does know and love us all individually. that relationship alone is truly a miracle. so cool that the church also has the system that is free and allows us to connect and get to know our ancestors better.

transfer week this week. thus the tuesday pday. we are both staying as asl sisters seem to often have our own coming and goings that are not in sync with the rest of the mission. today the largest group of missionaries in our mission history arrives. i think the number is now over 30. His work is true-biz hastening. cool to see and be apart of it. so glad i didn't defer the mission and came out when i did. the lord is so smart. knew i needed to come out before all the youngen's.

i got a perfect score in my transfer report! haha it made me laugh. our district leader filled it out this transfer. elders are sure clueless when it comes to sisters. if only they knew we had a far from perfect transfer and maybe one of the hardest ones yet. elders and sisters may work together but we sure have very divided missions too.

temple tour again this week too! we have 4 recent convert come! family history work sure bridges a perfect gap in between baptism and getting to the temple. we are working hard at using family history more. and we have a well staffed and large family history center right in our building which is a HUGE blessing!

had new missionary training this week. oh i so needed it. good for the trainees companion too. yes i am officially training sister repman. its a little hard. and when i say a little hard i actually mean a lot hard. BUT hear a way cool announcement! the compliment for asl sisters in this mission used to be four. well its jumping to five! yep 5 asl sisters! sister abbott comes in june! way neat! and also means asl sisters will have a chance to serve in another area doing english work. anyways being a trainer ive realized is a lot like motherhood.. image that.. huh. that's why we sometimes use the slang mother and baby. whatever. you learn to love your mother a lot more when you become one yourself. im not a real mother of children yet but mission mother, sister wilson, i only grow to appreciate and respect more and more everyday. mama oliphant please forgive me. especially during those teenage years. we are just so ignorant when we don't know the other side of things.

i know i owe you pictures! coming soon!

love,
sister elephant

ps.  bahahaha love the photo of stu and terrill! [referring to photo of them in hard hats playing computer games]

BAPAMATIZMS!

 

dominick wilson

dominick wilson and mickey dunn met sister wilson and sister teerime at a 4th of July breakfast in the parking lot of the Brookside ward. little did they know they would be getting just free pancakes offered. The missionaries began to visit and teach the restored gospel. they have actively attended the ward since, dominick although a non-member even has her picture in the relief society directory. it wasnt instant conversion and arent we all working on ours, but seven months later dominick and mickey decided to be married on february 14th. the wedding was beautiful and was followed by a wonderful baptism. mickey knows its his turn soon. dominick has followed the saviors example and soon mickey will be following his wifes. they are already had the family history bug bite and are halfway through a family history class offered in the evenings.

 

yang xiong

two elders on bikes met yang on the sidewalk of a park. they wrote back and forth on paper to communicate. yang thought it wouldnt hurt to meet missionaries, especially if they signed. yang had no christian background and a family that didnt support him. yang was born in laos. he doesnt even know american sign that well. but because he had patience and the lord blessed he was able to learn the gospel through broken sign, lots of gestures, and lots and lots of pictures. a year in the making yang knew it was important to be baptized. he has a silent baptism service on feb 17th and went down stiff as a board. he is now a disciple of jesus christ.

 

sia vang

was forgotten and looked over by so many. also born in laos, sia did not have the ability to acquire language because of her deafness and circumstances. when a young child doesnt not have this ability they do not develop mentally the same as you or I. sia has always known she has a savior who loves and cares for her tenderly. as soon as she was introduced to christianity and baptism she knew she needed to also be baptized. so many of christian churches denied her saying she was not a canididate for baptism. sia was blessed to have the asl sister missionaries stumble across her door and were able to, through so many miracles, teach her the restored gospel and give her the chance to be baptized with the proper priesthood authority into the true church of christ also on february 17th. the brookside relief society loves her so much and are so grateful for her joyful christlike example.

 

...................................................................

 

Baptism of Sia and Yang 2/17/13

 

 

three baptisms and a wedding sure made for a busy and miracle filled week. it was a great way for sister sellers to finish her mission. she flies home to oregon tomorrow and will be grateful missed. sister repman and i will continue to work. oh there is still so much work. it was a miracle that despite the busy week we were able to keep all of our other "key indicators" or numbers up and balanced! we hit or surpassed each of our goals but one! let me give you an example. yesterday... sunday... we had 2 baptisms, 1 confirmation, 2 lessons with members, 1 other lesson, 1 received referral, 1 contacted referral, added 1 new investigator, and had 2 recent-convert-less active lessons. oh and i interpreted for church. when it rains it pours! the lord sure is pouring down blessings and we all know how much i love dancing in the rain. and yes after primping sister sellers for her reunion with her family last night, i slept like a rock. i love sleep.

 

sister wilson also flies home tomorrow. im trying not to think about that one. and just praying nine months wont seem to far away from when i will be able to see and laugh with her again. she has been such a stength to me this first part of my mission. shes has truely been my "mission mommy." her future kids and husband are so stinkin lucky.

 

we had zone conference this week. (our car got a perfect score on cleanliness and upkeep! woo-hoo!) learned so much and yet i was all so simple. i sure love the gospel. we learned about how to encorporate family history work better in our work. i think ive also caught the bug... cant wait to get started. do you think grandpa will help me when i get home?

 

the brookside stockton ward is amazing. i have seen them stretched and expanded so much since coming back. the other sisters sure worked hard. the ward is a family and it feels so grate to be apart of it all.

 

i TRY to stay out of trouble,

sister oliphant

 

ps: happy vday all! thanks for all the LOVE this week!!!!!!!!

 

Feb 11

dearest loved ones,

 

happy early valentines day week. i love you all so much.

 

mom you are very welcome for the book. its much a good one. and i hope and those you choose to share with enjoy it.

 

yes to answer your question, i feel like i have two homes. asl only serves in two areas but they are both so precious. only one mamma wilson tho ;]

 

All the tons of sisters came! more to come of course still. Not quite sure where to put them all so im not the only one in a trip currently. yay for mnore sisters! and wow yeah they look young. fresh blood is always great though.

 

Next week, the 17th sister sellers and wilson leave... and sister jenson, our newest asl sister comes. which makes me the oldest. ahhh. exciting yet it will be hard to say goodbye. that of course is not on normal transfers. asl sisters rarely come on the normal 6 week transfer rotation. actually rumor is transfers will be shorted to 5 weeks until further notice. i think it has to do with the flood of all the new missionaires and the mtc training is now condensed. this also means i have no idea when i will be coming home next december. may be home for christmas, may not. not worrying about it now tho. maybe ill fly home in my bday! ha

 

its very warm! yes weeding, carwashes, and even shorts. funny california had spring even before groundhogs day haha.

 

mom i love your idea of childhood photos on cds!! cool! ive always wanted a copy!

 

hear gun shots as we were walking up to an apartment complex to visit a less active. i simply pivited on the ball of my feet and walked back toward the car. both companions of course hadnt heard a thing but i asked them to just get back in the car and ill explain. first gun shots outside of the apt ive heard. kind of cool. im still on the look out for bullet shells to makes earrings out of them. wilson wants a pair too. we just want to bring a little piece of stockton home with us :]

 

kathy has had the family history bug bite. for that fact so has dominick and mickey. so exciting to see that process! kathy found out she might not be part native american! now shes dying to find out more. plan is so go to the family history center with her soon. maybe i can do a little poking around myself, im clueless about it all and would love to learn for myself how to do family research. its all so fascinating. (ps sister repman pronounces the c in fascinating, shes determined thats how you are supposed to say it haha)

 

i requested grandma oliphants patriarchal blessing. its in the mail and i am excited for it to come! the church has so many way cool free services! how could the church not be true.

 

we realized we have another deaf less active member, baptized only a few years ago! so many people thought he was never baptized. still trying to confirm if he actually was but its cool to have anothere deaf to go visit.

 

sorry for the lack of "inspiring letters", i feel like i spend half of my time writing my weekly letter to president that i never have time to really dive into anything. so i just give up rough updates with the time i have left. guess that just means you'll have to listen to all my tons of mission stories when i get home :] i do feel so honored to have parts of letters read to the whole second ward. make me sound good though okay ;]

 

remember that super crazy black lady who was a baptist preacher is her previous life who was a recent convert to the brookside ward? well she moved. bummer. we miss zina! ... but she fed us dinner this week... first time ive had SOUTHERN food. collared greens arent half bad, the a ham hock on the other hand was a little different. anyways her husband and her mother were baptized this week and we had the chance to go with dominick and mickey! oh wow it was amazing. zina sung this amazing gospel song that had so many in tears. she has a beautiful gospel voice. mickey will be baptized soon. he knows it is all so real. he just had to give it a chance. zina has been such a wonderful example to her family. three others in her family are taking the discussion from elders and have plans to be baptized this spring. one is even engaged to a mormon! haha zina is such a pioneer and her baptism and choice to join the church will bless so many generation to come and before her. the gospel blesses families.

 

i put my PR skills to work this week! found a computer and made a deaf finding poster for all the missionaries to put on the fridge. president will be explaining them and passing them out at zone conference this week. it was fun to do a little writing. not to boast.... but its a pretty cool poster. glad the lord has blessed me with talents to help in his work.

 

umm most likely we are moving into a members home before the end of the month.... still havent decided fully how i think about that. we are moving into a couples home that belong to our ward. it will change dynamics alot.

 

so three baptisms in the making this week! dominick and then a silent double deaf baptism on sunday. its going to be a GREAT WEEK!! more to come soon :]

 

sunday i thought my brain was going to turn to mush. i stood and interpreted for two full hours of church, a blessing, and then interpreted an hour and a half "bluebox"/gentures baptism interview. all without breakfast or lunch. dont worry i survived and slept really well last night.

 

barrowed jaime campos sewing machine and had to unstitch a mistake i made three times. fixing a few articles of clothing ive picked up since being here. found an old ugly jumper from a member but loved the fabric so i cut it up to make a skirt! sister hudnor (senior sister in carmichael) helped me sew it back together after i cut it all up, added a liner and waist band. but the other modification will be done soon! first time i sewed a zipper. it looks awful. but the skirt is cute! :] haha                                                                                                                                                                   

 

okay well love you all and thats the currently weekly update!

 

Sister O

 

PS NATALIA THANKS FOR THE LETTER AND PICTURES! will write back soon! love you.

hello world.

hello world.

sometimes i forget you do keep moving on even though i am in my own little stockton bubble. yesterday we didnt even realize the super bowl until we asked what game everyone was watching. silly us, we should have guessed due to the streets were empty and stockton magically turned into something like a ghost town. now it all makes sense why there were SF 49ers stuff EVERYWHERE the last week.

dominick and mickeys wedding and baptism prep is going great. we surprised her with invitations and thank you cards we made during our lunch time. we was so happy. we are so excited for them. they are truly become part of the ward and have even taken up and are excited about family history classes.

kathys friend ken wants to meet with the missionaries. we have had a few discussion with him. i have true-biz learned the spirit is essential in lessons. so grateful for the spirit and all that it teaches us and how it makes us feel. would be nothing without Him.

ive become a full time interpreter. mostly what i do all day is interpret for the companions. that includes with each other as well. im praying my sign improves because of it at least :]

jaime campos invited us over to help weed and dig up trees in her backward. working with your hands, and i dont mean asl, is quite rewarding. i miss good hard work and sweating haha. we took down 4 small trees and gained victory over a whole bunch on vines. i think i might want to look into landscaping in the future. also got to kick around a soccer ball with the kids.... kayle, 8, schooled me though. haha

we are teaching 3 kids! and their grandmother named cindy. she is the neighbor of a member and on our first lesson said she wants to be baptized and become a mormon before we even had the chance to ask her anything. she takes care of her 10 grandkids all day. currently teaching 3 of them. ages 11, and twins that are 9. they are so cute and so willing to learn. deaf work has taught me how to teach children. who would have thought?

did some service at the bishops storehouse, that was cool. had no idea how that all worked. i got to help people go mini grocery shopping for an hour. sweet. shopping is my favorite haha.

sister sellers almost gave me blackeye this week. guess its not just elders who enjoy wrestling and tackling each other randomly. lets just say it was a good thing we had ice because i didnt want to explain to the mission president, anyone in the ward, or our investigators i got a black eye from my companion. haha

max sent me a package this week!!!! full of tons of candy :] first friend package :] thanks a BAGILLION max!!!!

our entire apt complex had their mailboxes broken into. the mailroom is shredded like a crime scene. good thing missionaries dont ever miss a day picking up their mail and we didnt lose a thing :]

as to the new testament i am actually super behind. now that i have investigators to study for i rarely have time just to read and study what i want. im trying to keep up though!

glad to hear the surprise party went well they still gotcha! way to go amanda and family!

umm about dating your mtc teacher.... did i ever tell you about the funny brother ikeda story? my previous home teacher who became my mtc teacher. haha umm i think it was a just in case protocol. but it sure has changed things a lot. sister repman had no deaf/asl formal teaching or studies before her mission. poor thing it hasnt been a super great transition when she doesnt know much of anything about deaf culture.

mom are you wearing a helmet when stu drives? haha kidding stu.

also i think i want to be a seminary teacher... just not a utah one. the gospel is way to much fun to not have an excuse to study it and teach it all the time. and yes while i thought i would never admit it waking up early might be something i would continue sacrificing for the opportunity. thanks for being great role models mom and dad.

this letter is full of a bunch of tangents sorry. but so much to mention and of course never enough time.

love you all.

sister elephant

ps. terrill please look up EYE in the topical guide and read the first two words. proceed to laugh. of course i thought of you instantly when reading this. stay crazy.