Happy Monday!

Hello Everyone! 

We had a good week this week! :)

Tuesday we got to do some "service." We helped a member pick apples off her tree, and that was a blast. The weather was so nice and I got to get on the ladder to get the high apples and it was just great! Then we sat outside and cut them up so she could turn them into applesauce. We also helped her make applesauce, and I tried it (I don't eat applesauce, I have no memories of myself eating applesauce ever, but I'm sure I ate some when I was little) and it was delicious! Wow! I have been missing out! I probably only like fresh homemade applesauce though... we'll see. She gave us a 2 lb block of Tillamook Cheese to thank us so that was a blessing. 

That night we took a Young Women knocking with us and the houses were pretty spread out and only on one side of the road. So we didn't realize how far we went until 7, when we had to walk back to our car and it took us an ENTIRE HOUR. It was really dark and we didn't have a flashlight and we kept hearing creepy noises in the forest, but we made it back safely. It's amazing what the dark does to a person's imagination. We went back the next day to see how far we walked and one way we walked 2.5 miles. So total we walked probably around 6 miles (if you count the looooonnnnnngggg driveways, and I do.) 

Oh, backtrack, on Monday night, the same Young Women knocked with us and we were invited to stay for Family Home Evening with her family. We told them we couldn't eat dinner with them because we aren't supposed to eat dinner after 6 pm, and then her dad, Brother Pope, told us we needed to break the rules a little, that I was too strict. Then he told Sister Philippi that she didn't need to listen to me and that it was okay to break the rules. He's a funny guy, he was just messing with me, but I'm stubborn and he can't convince me to break any rules. So we stayed for Family Home Evening and they gave us each a snickers bar. (Because we CAN have dessert with members.) I took a bite and then I noticed that my snickers bar said something besides "snickers" so I looked at it and it said "Rebellious" and I just burst out laughing and so did the rest of the family. I think you probably had to be there to understand how funny it was, but it was pretty priceless. 

Thursday was GREAT. We woke up at 5 so that we could drive to Tacoma. We had to be in our seats for a mission conference by 7:40. We had a member of the Quorum of the Seventy come speak to us, Elder Robert C. Gay. He was a great speaker. He talked to us a lot about what the first vision has to do with the Atonement and how we can be better teachers as we teach to peoples needs, using the Spirit. He talked about the first vision and how the gospel is a gospel of deliverance from darkness and the gospel brings light and peace and hope, and how we need to help people see that. 

Then he had a Q&A session and I was brave enough to ask a question, and he looked directly at me the whole time he answered it. So, I had a General Authority talk directly to me to answer a question that I had. That doesn't happen too often. :) I was able to go up to him afterward and talk to and thank him for coming.

On Saturday I turned twenty and a half! Pretty big milestone! ;) Nothing too exciting happened on this half birthday. Last year on this day I got my mission call, so I guess that was the end of my exciting half birthday streak. 

This week we visited a lot of part member families who were really receptive to us, and let us come into their homes so we could talk to them. I really think that pretty soon we're going to be able to help a lot of these families progress in the gospel so that they can have stronger, happier families, and Christ-centered homes. This transfer hasn't been as successful as I was hoping it would be, but I think next transfer after all of our efforts will bring more success. 

I'm just going to close with a scripture that I read this week (Ether 12:4) that brought me some peace:

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith , maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God. 

If we believe in God than we can definitely, without a question, hope for a better world. and not just "Well....I hope this happens" but real hope, which is CONFIDENCE that God will fulfill His promises to you. This hope will be an anchor to your soul, it will hold you down so you aren't swept away with the storms of life. It will help you to be sure and steadfast. It will bring you home to God. 

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week! 

Love, Sister Warburton

Pictures:

Aren't we just too cute? 

This was our first attempt at a jumping picture and Sister Philippi has never taken a jumping picture before *gasp* so it turned out pretty hilarious. I was laughing really hard.