HELLO FAMILY!

Sep 30, 2013
Pocatello, Idaho
Companion: Sister Madsen

This week has been great! We have had a lot of great experiences! I dont have a lot of time. So I am just going to jump into my week. We have a lot to do today. And we are going to play mini golf with our district! YAY! Way fun!
Well, Monday was a good day. We had a fun P-day as usual. But after p-day hours is when it got really interesting. Haha. We were walking down the street and a little boy walked out of his house and he yelled at us and said.. "Hobos smell like rotten cheese!" And then I asked him, are you talking about hobo spiders or hobo hobo. and he said he was talking about hobos on the street. And he continued to tell us that he asked him for money and that he would never give a hobo money because all they do is sit on the street asking for money and they do nothing with their lives. It was pretty funny. And we asked him why he smelt a hobo. And he told us that he was just walking down the street and was talking to this hobo who smelt like rotton cheese. It was a very interesting conversation. This kid was probably nine and we had no clue who he was haha. It was great!
Tuesday was a good day! We had our district meeting and it went really well. It was fun. The assistants to the president were there and they told us that if we got 20 baptism dates by general conference that they would do something for us. They arent sure what yet. But it got our district really excited! And we have 11 dates right now and we can make it to 20! YAY! After our district meeting we went to the Family History Center because we needed to make our programs for our baptism. And they turned out really good. then we went home and we did what we call walk on faith. And we were walking down the street and we werent really sure where we needed to go. Then we see a family walking down the street. So we turn around and we follow them. But they were too far ahead of us that we couldnt cath up. And we didnt want to chase them down. We were walking as fast as we could without running lol. When we looked across the street and we see a guy standing outside his house and we go over and we talk to him. He is black and his name is Derrell. he was really nice. And he is from DC and he is 25 and he has a little daughter. And we shared the scripture 2 Nephi 31:17-18 and then we invited him to be baptized and he said yes and we set a date for November 2nd! It was awesome! We know that Heavenly Father was preparing him and we are excited to continue to teach him.
Wednesday we were able to go to the temple. It was great. I love being able to go to the temple! After the temple we went to costco and I got my first pair of snow boots! I am so excited about them! YAY! They are really cute too! people were telling me that snow boots are not cute. But I can now testify that I know that they can be cute! Haha After that we rode our bike up to Presidents house on our way to an appointment we just stopped in and get a drink of water and we were talking with President for awhile. And it was a lot of fun. He was telling us that he is going to split our area and put elders in. So there will be three sets of elders in the Highland stake. It makes us sad that they are putting elders in. But its okay. The Lord knows what He is doing! :) We also did a role play with President and that was pretty cool. And he was telling Sister Madsen and I that we have a great companionship and that a lot of companions dont bond as fast as her and I have. I really enjoy being Sister Madsens companion and she is great. She is probably my favorite companion thus far! :) Well, Wednesday night we were waiting for the sister training leaders to come to our house so we could go on exchanges. And while we were waiting Sister Madsen and I decided that we were going to have some fun. So we did chinagins. And for those of you who do not know what that is. It is where you draw eyes on your chin and lay on a bed with you head hanging off and you cover your nose and eyes with a shirt and you talk or sing or whatever. Yeah, we had a lot of fun with that! :) Haha we are perfect for each other because we are both super goofy!
Thursday, there isnt a whole lot to report just because we were on exchanges and I dont really remember the people that we saw. I wasnt in my area for exchanges. I went over to the sister training leaders area. And I was with Sister McKnight. She is awesome! And they are teaching some awesome people in their area. And we had a lesson that night and she set a date with one of their investigators. That is way super exciting for them! I really enjoyed being out of our area. But I was so happy when I got back. I missed the people. Even thought I was away for only one night! But There was something awesome that happened while I was gone! Katy, who we have been working with since I got here and missionaries were working with her before I even got here. They went and saw her and they were talking about baptism and she said that she wants to be baptized and that she can work towards being baptized on the 9th of November but she wants to talk to her husband first. So we are super excited about that and I am looking forward to seeing her this week!
Firday was Jason Permanns baptism! He was so excited! It was so cute, before his baptism started, he went around to everyone and thanked them for coming to his baptism. He also gave Sister Madsen and me little cards thanking us for taching him the gospel and helping him be baptized. He is so sweet and he is only nine! Friday we also got helments! Sister Records son bought them for us! That was super sweet of him! And we also set dates with the Randalls! Well, just the mom and dad because the daughter wasnt there. But we were so excited about it! And they are excited about being baptized and being able to go to the temple and be together forever as a family! We were teaching the plan of salvation and I was showing them that we are here on earth right now. And that we have so much life ahead of us. And why wouldnt we want to be with our family after this life as well. And Brother Randall just agreed and said.. Yeah, why not?! haha it was so great! :D
Saturday I got my hair cut! And it looks so good! :) All of the blonde is almost out though and that makes me sad. :( But it looks really healthy. And she did cut off a lot. and we also got to do some service. We went to paint someones deck and it was good. And then we went to go see Kenda who is a recent convert and she wasnt home but there were some guys there who were working on her roof and we started talking with them and we thought that they werent members but it turns out that they were and we were talking about the church and they were saying how much the church has blessed their lives. And it was awesome! I know that we went to Kendas house for a reason and that was the reason why. And later Saturday night we were trying to find someone to teach but we were having a hard time. So we kept praying and the last prayer we said about a minute later a cop car passes us and stops and backs up and asks us if we were prosiliting and we said yes.. Well kinda. Well. we are trying to! Haha and he told us about this guy who he was just talking with and that the guy he was talking with wanted to know more about the church and the cop invited him to church and invited him to talk to the missionaries. (And if you couldnt tell, the cop was LDS Haha) But, we knew that that was an answer to our prayers and we felt good about the day. We taught 6 lessons and we received a referral! It was a great day! Saturday was a huge testimony builder. And I know that Heavenly Father does answer our prayers! :)
Sunday was a good day too! Jason had his comfirmation and he was so happy! :) And then Sunday night, we went and saw Martin. And the lesson went really well. And at the end of the lesson we asked him if he could work towards the 9th of Novemberas his new date. Then his fiance said... That is not going to happen. I dont want to be married that soon. Then she just kept going on and kinda chewed us out. I felt really bad. But its all good! I feel really bad for Martin because he wants to get baptized so bad but his fiance is keeping him from that. And they wont be married until next summer. So they have awhile until he can be baptized. :(
Well, that is about it for this week! I hope that everyone is having a great week! I love you all! I miss you and pray for everyone!
Love,
Sister Ashley Halbison