march 25

mom your letter last week was great! thanks for all the pics. terrill your still the biggest goof. love you

 

amanda is going on a study abroad! oh please pick her up and not me. actually let me fly home and then we can all fly to pick her up together :] i need to get out an be culturized in the rest of the world eventually... we all know 18 months in northern california isnt what i would call "culturized." haha

 

in respose to a few comments from last letter? currently no missionaries are living with the members we before lived with. they just had a family situation come up so they kicked us out. its nice to be with roommates again though. i wish i could say i was picking up a little spanish from the hermanas.

 

maria our investigator is paralized. used to be from the neck down, now she has control over most her upper body. not super easy to turn the pages on a book though. she is a sweetheart and such a light. upp baptizing paralized is hard. they did it in the deaf branch recently. yeah you have lots of burly elders take them down on a folding chair and do it all sitting. more than just the 2 in the font im pretty sure.

 

umm i forgot about dying anything green on st pattys day. but on pday a bunch of the missionaries go to elder and sister neilsons and they feed us pancakes. i told them the april fools day prank with dads pancakes. oh they just about died of laughter and then elder nielson got a big grin on his face. we are for sure going for pancakes next week :]

 

i love that the oliphants idea is fun is dropping. ringing. and running. seriously best humor and always enduring laughs.

 

sounds like the band concert was great! just like STOMP. love and miss those concerts. why is pep and marching band music always so great?

 

Mary Poppins was this week? mom that blue sweater looks great on you. good color :]

 

I can watch homemade videos! you just have to attach them in an email cause i cant go to youtube. feel free to keep that in mind for the future :] they would probably need to be on the shorter end tho.

 

who is the gentleman with the mad2 basketball team?? the one on the left.

 

ahh mom you and the seminary kids are still beating me! ive tried to catch up this week but still not quite done with ACTS. so much good stuff in there. and so much that deals with the restoration of the church.

 

THE DEAF BRANCH CLOSED! i know crazy. sister wilson and i knew it was the path the branch was heading and it to be honest really needed to happen. guess i kind of didnt expect it to happen tho. means when i go back  up north things will be way different. happy i wasnt there when it all happened though.

 

jaime campos has offically been called as a stake interpreter. means her and kids get to come back to our ward! so very happy about it :]

 

so this week i made a big mistake. i  was leaving a voicemail with the zone leaders and as i hung up i automatically said , k-thanks-love-you-bye. before i could push the endcall button i freaked out as i realized what i had said. pretty sure the voicemail caught the whole thing. so embarrassing. hopefully they dont send me home ;]

 

we were having a lesson with a less-active when we counted ELEVEN cop cars siren past us. something was going down. later heard it was county sheriffs, stockton police, and the fbi all on a police chase around streets we drive several times a day. i love stockton.

 

mormon.org workshop was a fail this week. started out okay but a member of the bishopric came in and snatched up and said he needed us pronto. so we dropped everything and met with 2 college students who had wandered over to the churh and were asking questions. it was for a school project but it was a neat experience. we missed the last 20 minutes of our own class. looks like the finished up without us. felt so bad for just leaving them handing. bishopric member said "they're already members... who cares?!" and then as were already way late for RS we just stayed and chatted with a LA and her nonmember friend she brought to church. missionaries never seem to have normal sundays. but it meant i only had to help interpret for sacrament meeting.

 

love and miss you all!

 

love,

sister oliphant

 

ps: happy birthday zak! so excited for your baptism! i will be there in spirit :]

march 18

hello all!

sorry this will be a short one this week.

we had the privilege of having sister lewis (sister mission president), spend some time with us this week! what a blessings to have her wonderful spirit :]

we had quite the array of lessons this week, lots of unplanned ones. the lord justt continues to bless us. added 3 new investigators. one of which is deaf!

this week was also real rough. while stockton is the blessed land and definitely has its perks lets just say i wouldnt give it a 5 star for its politeness. disciples of jesus christ took a lot of hits in the scriptures and missionaries continue to take it today. not easy when people yell, lie, and persecute. i love the scripture acts 5:41-42:

And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

stockton i love you. thanks for making me stronger :]

we started the mormon.org profile workshop! and it was a success! im teaching it by myself (sister repman interprets gospel principles class) and while i was half nervous have super pumped the lord helped so much! so excited for the rest of the ward to make its ways though :]

LOVE 

Sister Oliphant

march 11

sorry about the photo mix up. maybe this clerifies.

currnetly serving asl sisters:

sister acker, oliphant, jenson, repman

 

we are in a different order in the temple tour picture.

 

to answer your questino yes yang, sia are both single. yang wants to be married and sia is scared to death of it. kind of funny actually, we are trying to help the two of them be better friends actual. sia has had a few bad expereinces in her past that i think effects her relationships with men, especially hmong men. sia does have two beautiful daughters though. she does not care for them though. and we found out they are actually members too! small world. sia lives by herself. yang on the other hand lives with his sister and brother in law. yang i would say is a way less "bluebox" now and is practically fluent in sign. he is picking it up way fast! i think its because he interacts with the deaf so much more now. sia is not quite as much. she is a lot older mind you. the older you are the harder it us to learn any language. but we are trying to find more resources for  her to continue learning about the gospel. :]

 

sister repman yes can interpret! oh she saves me all the time. funny sometimes she needs interpreting herself, other times she can help interpret. it depends on noise polution really. if she can real clearly she can interpret. other times she missed what people say. but currently shes been interpreting sunday school which is great because i will teaching the mormon.org workshop. we start next sunday :] hopefully it all works out well!

 

wow i would love to teach a mormon.org profile workshop at the second ward! dont know how well it would work though as we have a full blown family history center with 8 computers that we use. madison 2nd i dont think has the same resources. but yeah the profile is just amazing. what they are most helpful for are for YOUR non lds friends. more to come :]

 

hyrum you are passing the sacrament! oh wow im so proud! how blessed are we to have another priesthood holder in the home. and terrill received his patriarchal blessing! wow. wish i could have been there. sounds like a really neat expereince. funny i remember when richards recieved his patriarchal blessing more than my own. so glad we both got to share that experience together. patriarchal blessing are one of the neatest things. so personal and so insightful. thank you heavenly father :]

 

the highschool is doing "All Shook Up" agian?! yeah they did that one my freshman year. oh remember that try out? had a bad head cold and ended up singing the song 2 octives lower than it was written. bahaha i dont think our choir director wanted a female bass. the next year i tried out for "The Boyfriend" and made cuts with my better health singing "Taylor the Latte Boy" song. always a personal favorite ;]

 

We visited many less actives this week! visiting teaching/hometeaching=missionary work. seriously its the same thing. so this week we visit taught nine people. ive never been so great at my visiting teaching and i dont even have an offical visiting teaching calling. pah.

 

we found a deafie! who is a member! yipee! he was baptized a few years ago even and has fallen off all charts. its always nice to know we have more deaf to teach and keep track of.

 

oh did i tell you... we moved AGAIN. this week. oh my goodness since the new year (i think its because of all the new missionaries and the changes our mission is having) things have been balistics. moving, surprise missionaries showing up, emergency transfers, car switches. its been fun to say the least. keeps us on our toes. our exchange sister, sister beale, and also our roommate for 5 days, was emergency transfered yesterday to open up a new area for spanish sisters with a brand new missionary baby. "shotgun" training. its one of many happening right now. we had 30+ missionaries come in last transfer, and we'll be having another 30+ this transfer as well. we are booming. those rates are 3-5 times more than normal. but yeah so we are back in our old apartment with the spanish sisters this time. we will miss the Bird family and their beautiful home. (so far im keeping up with my clean habits i picked up there... we'll see how long is lasts ha)

 

we are teaching a woman named maria. she is a paralized woman who got in to a bad car accident years ago (dont talk on the phone while driving mmk). she such a sweet woman. her caretaker is an lds woman from the spanish ward. woopie for member missionaries! i am so glad she opened her mouth, we are so happy to be able to share the restored gospel with maria.

 

The grandmother we are teaching with her 10 grandchildren she cares for came to church on sunday! i think we just about doubled our primary and the took up a whole back pew. good to see them there and to see the gospel bless families :] reminded me a little bit of growing up and our oliphant herd.

 

thats about it for this week. (other than i miss my past asl sisters more and more everday.)

thanks everyone for all the post this week. it makes me smile so so much :]

Happy early st pattys day. ill probably be dying the milk green again :]

 

Love sister oliphant

 

ps: my half way or 9 month, mark is tomorrow. ummm thats crazy.

pss: happy late bday jesse! (ummm i may sometimes i dream about your cooking)

March 4

another week in stockton :]

last week i had the privileged of interpreting for Yang and Sia's confirmation. it was a really neat experience. i may not have the priesthood and ever be able to give blessings but that might be the closest experience i might ever have to that. what was more neat was how the ward welcomed these two newest members of the ward. the second counselor asked for a everyone to welcome them by the usual raise of the right hand. after finishing he paused then took a moment to give a nervous look back a the bishop with a "hope this is okay face." he then asked me to stand up and teach the ward how to sign the word "welcome." proceeding he asked Yang and Sia to stand and face the congregation. tears filled my eyes as the rest of the chapel all signed in unison "welcome." it was a simple gesture but it sincerely touched my heart. our heavenly father does care and love each of this children. the Brookside ward has done so much to accept and love the few deaf members of their ward family. i am so grateful for their support and Christ like love. the hearing and deaf world often seem so isolated from each other. neither understand each other and the bridge is often hard to cross. but this is a beautiful gesture that shows that as Gods children we can put all other differences behind us and love as our savior would. thanks Brookside ward.

to answer your question mom, the Brookside ward has 4 active deaf members, we just received news of two others who are less active. We have another deaf woman, member, has also started to come about every other week.

15 people this week came to the asl class on thursday tho! here in stockton we for sure do much more hearing work than deaf. its just the need of the area. less deaf people means more hearing focus.

we are starting a mormon.org workshop during sunday school for members to learn how to create their own mormon.org profile. it helps members share their testimony and for us to support members in their own missionary efforts! win win and we get to teach and lead it! woopie! the lord sure has good ideas, so glad we get to be in the middle of it all.

crystal, an investigator wears beautiful hats! now for her to just wear one to church ;] she let me try them on. playing dress up its way too much fun. gotta love stockton and all its flavor that comes with.

haha yes mom i have thought about the 10 o'clock curfew. and yes its still under debate... in my own heart. funny i have thought about that though. good thing i'll have a husband to discuss and make discussions with before i ever have kids.

its short sleeves weather! almost hit 80 this week. long sleeves are moving to the back of the closest i think. kind of sad. the fall and spring are mushed together here, are short, and completely leave out winter, unless you want to count christmas day as winter.

terrill got a cell phone?! way to go terrill. i sent home letters/bday cards with a fun puzzle i made for them both the birthday boys. hope you enjoy and its challenging enough. if the fam wants more copies i will send more. had way too much fun doing that a few months ago when the companion was sick. hyrums a deacon? passing the sacrament already?! everybody stop growing up. its going all way too fast. i can hardly recognize a few of the little ones in pics. lydia sure seems to have shot up. and zak looks like hyrum. i get them confused now. will i even be able to recognize any of them when i get home? good luck on the last 6 articles of faith! i still have number 10 memorized the best. Bishop asked the primary kids to get up in sacrament meeting and recite them when i was little. i practiced and practiced so i wouldnt forget up there. and now its the one i can still say best :]

speaking of 12 year olds... so jaime campos, one of the woman in our ward that we love so much (actually their family just moved to the neighboring ward) has a 12 year old son who has the biggest crush on me. its the cutest thing. but since he turned 12 i told him no more hugs cause hes a man now and missionaries cant hug men. haha oh his face was precious. so cute. always, "sister oliphant look at this", and "is sister oliphant coming over?" so flattering haha. but i promised his mother next time they are in utah ill take him out on his first date. haha kids are so darn cute.

richard thats awesome you took the boys for the weekend. good for you. wish i could do that more at byu with lydia or something. sounds like a party. hopefully bobbie enjoyed herself as well.

mom im super behind in my new testament reading. ive been stuck in the last chapters of John for about a month now. i have to pick up if i want to finish it with the seminary kids by june.

well thats news from here. hope all is well. hope everyone is as excited for easter and general conference as i am :]

love,
sister oliphant

With Crystal, wearing awesome hats

Sisters Oliphant and Vaughn

Crissa tries on a hat!

Clarissa and Dominick

All the Sister Missionaries in Sacramento - Feb 2013

Dominick's baptism

All 4 ASL Sisters

Sister Seller's last night?

Dominicks first visit to the temple

Sisters Sellers and Oliphant

All 4 at the temple

Sia and Yang's baptism

Dominick and Mickey's wedding