April 22

oh how exciting! sisters in madison 2nd! that will be neat for the ward especially because the ward has so many sisters currently serving as well. the dynamics will be interesting. elders and sisters. oh fun :] to bad stephanie isnt around or maybe they could even be asl!

 

need an idea for dessert when you feed the missionaries? fruit salad. we eat way too much dessert and crave healthy way too much. if the missionaries are staying for fhe you should ask some of the kids if they can invite some friends :] we always are looking for more teaching opprotunities. and great way for friends to be more familiar with missionaries :]

 

MOM I LOVE SNICKERDOODLES. please dont hold back ;] haha funny i say that after i just told you about how we eat way to many desserts haha!!

 

the seminary kids are way ahead of me in the new testament. im still in 1st corinthians. im pokey i guess.

we did hear about the bombing. so sad. glad to hear they have finally caught the second guy. yep everyone out here is talking about it and many tvs were on in the background in many homes so yeah ive heard a fair share whats going on. hits a little close to home being a runner and loving races. the boston marathon is the superbowl for runners. so sad. glad to see the nation united over harsh things like that again. we are sooo in the last days.

 

gospel principles class is amazing! i agree. i much prefer it over the other class now haha. so great to build our faith on the basics and be reminded of the foundation/building blocks.

 

Zak bore his testimony? aww thats the cutest thing. just adorable that he was preparing for it for so long. kids set such good examples. alma 32:23

 

Terrill I just adored your letter! read it to another sister even i loved it so much and wanted to share. you will be proud of me i got the right answer on your math problem challenge you sent me. ive still got it ;] i'll write back soon kid.

 

wettest year so far huh? 1998 was that the year we have the river in our backyard when the chamberlins were over and our tv died because of the lighting. haha i dont know how i remember that. yes 2008 i remember. we lost our carpet that year. inch of water in our room.

so cool.

 

the middle eastern food was good. we had to re-warm it up. im sure it would have been better fresh. yeah it was interesting.... will keep you posted on Said :]

 

thanks for being on top of the bike thing mom. i wish i could take more time to try and do some searching. if you can find a road bike or atleast a hybrid i would love it. now that ive riden a road bike i dont know if i can ever go back haha. they are a lot more light too :] cheaper shipping.

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okay as for me this week.

it has been a week of miracles. many many miracles.

 

we have a mini philipino group in our ward. well all the woman get together to all "visit teach" eachother and they invited us to join them. i love that i get to eat all this great ethnic food. learned how to eat a fish head properly, cant say that i actually had the guts to do it myself though haha. they had fun teasing us.

 

this week we have really been spending a lot of time with Dede. this was her weekend she decided to kick the smoking once and for all. shes been a trooper. also this weekend we ended up with a car full of coffee. somehow during one of our lessons we ended up in the kitchen and as i read D&C 89 DD emptied her cupboards of all her coffee and handed it all to sister repmans over-burdened arms. it was one of those miracle events return missionaries tell stories about. she showed amazing faith. we also got a little creative this week about how else we can help dd quit smoking. shes a chain smoker that knows she needs to quit. so we made a hundred little sticky note reminders full of encouragement and uplifting scriptures and surprised her when we stuck them all over her house. we also made replacement cigarettes made from rolled up sticky notes with scriptures written on them. haha she loved it all and hopefully the little encouragement and reminders will help her.

 

i got to go to ripon ca for a day this week! sleepover! it was fun. they currently have no miles and no bikes yet so we were on foot all day. i was afraid to count the miles we walked, but lets just say a missionary's work hours are more than the standard 8 hour work day. i only ended up with 2 blisters and lots of sunburn lines. i miss the sun. it was quite the enjoyable exchange though. got to chat with my old roommate sister jolley for hours and worked on our street contacting. we literally talked to everyone that moved. i also got to get a big hug from sister jackson that day. miss her much since she left us and a hug from her was way past due. some friends on the mission arent just "friends on the mission."

 

ive really begun to learn how to forget myself on my mission. hopefully its enough to say thank you for all the individuals who have repeatedly sacrificed so much for me and for this work. i will forever be grateful for them and for the savior's eternal sacrifice for all mankind.

 

well its back to reality. i've heard a mission is as real as it ever gets.

 

much love from sister oliphant