Week 46

Hello Everyone!!

This week hasn't been super exciting, so I'm sorry if this is a shorter email.  I also forgot my planner that has what we did each day...woops!  but we were able to visit more with some recent converts that are struggling, but I think most of them came to church on Sunday!  We were also able to visit The Towers which is an assisted living in our area which just makes me sooo happy that we actually have one in our area!  But we visited one of the sweetest ladies there that is a member, and we got to listen to her about her family, which is really a big service to them to know that someone cares about them!  We are actually going to be able to see her again this week because she has a lady that is interested in learning more about our church!  I'm so excited!  Travis is doing okay, but he cancelled his baptism date because they are set on getting married in April, so he won't be able to be baptized until he is married.  But after cancelling some appointments, we saw them on Sunday and they said we were still in good standing, they have just been really busy and tired this weekend.  So I'm really happy about that!  Then the Women's broadcast was super good this week!  I really enjoyed how it was centered on covenants, and that is what we strive to help people make as missionaries!  So it was perfect!  Oh, and we were doing family history in the stake center when we got rained in from a crazy rainstorm! So that was exciting so we just kept doing family history! And on Sunday we did have a nonmember come and she enjoyed it and said she would come next week!  Hopefully she becomes a new investigator this week!    I don't know what else to say, it's been a good week and I'm learning more about how to have patience and be kind to everyone that I am around. I just hope that I continue to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ.  I love you all and hope that you have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

 Here is a picture of me, Sister Lords, Josiah with his two kids Melanie and Victor, and Sister Holman!

 Poor cactus fell down......but it's huge!!!!

 On our trusty steeds! ;)

The Hobbs!!!!  These are the sweet members that we get to live with!  It's like living with my grandparents!  They are fantastic and so helpful and kind! 

 

Week 45

Hello Everyone!!

The past few days have been good!!!  Our P-day was good, it's definitely different living in a member's home but the members that we live with are the biggest sweethearts ever!  We are finally all unpacked with our supplies and our personal stuff so that's exciting!  Wednesday night we just went to dinner with a member and had a good conversation with her, she actually served a mission!  It was really fun to talk to her about her mission experiences!  Then Thursday we had an appointment with Anne Marie who is a recent convert who is also less-active.  We had a good conversation of me getting to know her and she is actually a caregiver at an assisted living so I think we will click!  We also went to see another recent convert who is less active, but she wasn't home, so we visited with the member who she is living with.  When we were about to leave her with a prayer, Barbara showed up with a friend who isn't a member so we ended up introducing her friend to the church and answering some questions that she had!  Then we stopped by another recent convert who is less active and were just able to share a prayer and set up another appointment. Then we went to dinner with the Nicolls who are super cute!  5 of their 6 kids are adopted and are super fun, I really enjoyed getting to know them!  I also found out that she is a convert and was introduced at 14 and brought her whole family in.  I was also able to meet the Relief Society president and our Ward mission leader that night.  It's super helpful to meet these people!  Then Friday wasn't too exciting with lots of planning, then dinner with a recent convert who is amazing and super cute!  I'm super excited to get to know her!  Her name is Patsy and actually took the lessons for a couple of years before she was finally baptized, and she was DEFINITELY worth it! :)  Then Saturday was AMAZING!!!!!  We got to go to a conference with the Mesa Mission where Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke!!!!!  It was sooooo good and we all got to shake his hand and when he shook our hand he said "good morning, Sister Zimmerman" so it was super cool!  He was really funny!  He had two other General Authorities with him who addressed us first, and they were Elder Foster from the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy and Elder Hansen from the 6th Quorum of the Seventy.  Some of Elder Nelson's funny quotes were "the halibut is the ugliest fish I've ever seen"  We can't quite remember how that tied in... then he also said "I know we shouldn't talk about marriage, but let's talk about marriage for a bit!"  Then while talking about that he addressed us sisters and said, "when prince charming kneels down and asks you to be mine, say no.....UNLESS, he is worthy of you and he loves the Lord more than you, because if he loves the Lord more than you, he will have a greater capacity to love you."  Elder Nelson focused on a lot of things like being exactly obedient, and other things that I forgot because I do not have my study journal with me.  But it was a neat experience and I'm happy I was able to be there!  We also extended a baptismal date for our investigator Travis for the 25th of October so we are really excited about that!  Also, on Sunday we had two ladies come to our church and they came halfway through sacrament, then they left right after and I chased them down because I wanted to find out why they were there and if they would be interested in learning more, and they actually came to the rest of the block with us!!!!!  They are so prepared, but they are unfortunately in another ward.  But it was really neat!  I am just enjoying this new area and am so excited to serve here!  I love you all and hope that you are participating in hastening the Lord's work as well!! 

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

 I saw Elder Bartlett from the Mesa Mission - my neighbor from South Jordan :D

 Sister Lords

New Companion Sis. Rudy!

Week 44

Hello Everyone!!!

So, this past week and a half has been great!!  So I was transferred yesterday, which was sad because I only got 9 weeks there, but I am so happy that I got to serve in the Coronado ward for the time that I got to!!  Josiah got baptized last night and it was AMAZING!!!!!  So, he was about 30 minutes late, but he made it!!  The baptism went super well and after I was asked to give a quick talk on the Holy Ghost because Josiah decided that that's my topic that I enjoy to talk about the most :)  I didn't realize that, but I'll take it!  Then afterward there was a musical number by his college football coach's wife who happens to be in our ward!!  Anyway, I looked over and he was crying!!!!  What a wonderful moment to look at my investigator who is crying because of the spirit he has felt.  Then his brother who isn't a member reached his arm around him and that definitely was a tear jerker.  It was just so neat!!  It was a wonderful night and I was so happy that I got to teach him for the time that I did!  He will be a great member!  Then I had to say goodbye to the people I have worked with and that was really sad, but I'm determined to go back to visit them!!  The boys are still doing good and the sisters will continue to work on their parents who definitely have been touched by their example!  It's just been a great week and I've been so happy about the time I had to serve there!  As for my new area, I am now in Mesa right on the border of our mission and the Mesa mission, so I am also just about 5 minutes from the temple!!!!   So that's exciting!  My companion is Sister Rudy and she will be going home at the end of the transfer, which is sad!  But  I am super excited to be her companion!  I have really enjoyed her the past day that we have been together!  We also live with members who are super sweet, but it will be different not living with other sisters!  So that's my new area, I'm really excited about it!  Oh, and this Saturday we are supposed to have a conference from Elder Nelson, but he recently got attacked on an assignment in Africa?  So, if you could all pray for him that would be great!  We really hope this goes through, because we missed out on Elder Holland in January!  I hope you all are doing well!  I love and miss you all!!! 

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

 My sweet boys!!  I'm going to miss them!! 

 The whole family!  Me, James, Tom, Lupe, and Jeremy!  I love them so much!!  And Lupe is from around Morelia where Haley has been serving! :)

 Me, Sister Lord's and Josiah!  I will hopefully get baptism pictures soon.....I didn't have my camera at the baptism from the chaos of moving into my new home. But next week I will hopefully have some!!

 

Another blanket I recently finished that I gave to Melani, Josiah's little girl!  Sorry I have so many pictures!

 Sister Daniel!!!  I LOVE this lady!  Good news!!!  Her boyfriend proposed so she can go to the temple soon!!!!  I'm so excited for her!! 

Us and Sister Bonilla, a super helpful member!  She is also a convert of 5 years!  I absolutely love her!!!

Week 43

This week has been really good!  There have been a lot of ups and some downs, but I'm trying to do my best to take care of the downs!  So....this Saturday the boys were baptized!!!!!  It was SOOO amazing!!  They had a lot of family there to support and everything just went super smoothly and it was just a lot of fun!  Those two boys are such inspirations to so many people!  It's just amazing that these two boys got baptized even though no one else in their immediate family are members.  They do have cousins and a grandma that recently converted, but they did search this out on their own!  Our bishop gave a really sweet talk at the end of the baptism and was just so proud of them!  Sister Stevens and Sister Taylor also came down for the baptism and it was really good to catch up with Sister Stevens and get updates about the area!  She gave me lots of hugs from people up there which was sweet to know that I've been missed up there!  I can't wait to visit those people again after my mission!  Then the boys were confirmed members of our church on Sunday!  They were so cute!  So they are doing well, and we heard a member from the Spanish branch telling their sister to tell them when she was going to be baptized!!  Those boys sure have been a great influence!  So hopefully 3 baptisms are on the horizon for this area!!  Josiah is also doing well!  He wasn't able to come to church because he fell asleep after getting up because he is starting his new job working security at night and was super tired from it!  But he is still excited for his baptism next Tuesday so I will have another baptism picture for you next week!!  He is awesome and answered yes to all of the baptismal interview questions this time!  Then we were also able to street contact 29 people this week, but none became potential investigators for us, but we did get at least one referral for some other missionaries!  I love hastening the work wherever I can!  One day I'll make a difference for my area, and if not, so be it! :)  The work is great, and I love this opportunity to serve!  This weekend I go into double digits!!  I'll be home sooner than I know!  I love you all and hope that you all have a great week!  I'll update you again next Wednesday!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

 Sand storm that just missed Scottsdale, but covered Phoenix!

 Sister Lords and I with the boys!!! They are so cute!!

Lupe and Tom with the boys!!  I love this family!!

Week 42

Hello Everyone!

Well, this week has been really good again!!  Our area is just amazing!!  We have found people who are willing to hear our message through our own efforts, and our members have been giving us people to teach!!  It's awesome!  So, James and Jeremy are doing AMAZING!  We taught them Tuesday night and went over their baptismal interview questions, and they did really well!!  Then we had dinner with them on Friday after eating at another member's home (where we got referrals for their neighbors!) and went over their baptismal interview questions again because they were nervous about it, but they did well again!  Then Saturday they had their interview and passed!  YAY!  We knew they would, but I'm sure they were glad it was over because they were so nervous about it.  Then after they were done with their interviews we picked out baptismal outfits for them, and we finally found suits for them!  Then they came to church on Sunday with their mom, and they came all dressed up this time!!  They usually come in just their school clothes, but their mom got them nice clothes so they were dressed in church clothes!  Lupe wasn't able to stay after sacrament because they were having car troubles that they needed to fix.  But Lupe is doing well and we are going to get Tom, he just might take more work. :) Then Josiah is doing much better this week!  We had a lesson with him on Tuesday and talked about Joseph Smith because he said he didn't have a strong testimony of him.  We read part of the pamphlet of the Testimony of Joseph Smith and hopefully cleared up some of his questions!  Then we met with him again on Saturday and he was still doing well and is excited for his baptism which we moved to September 16th, because we have a Relief Society activity on the 9th so it would interfere with the baptism.  But he's doing well and he came to church and made it to sacrament meeting and even rode his bike!  We were excited about that!  So this week we were only able to street contact about 10 people this week, but 3 of them produced something!  Two of them were people that said that the missionaries could come back to visit them, but they weren't in our area so that was sad.  Then the third one was a miracle.  We were coming out of the apartment complex and met a man.  We did a passing "Hi, how are you?" then we stopped and he turned around to talk to him.  We introduced who we were, and he said "Oh, ya I live in apartment 1029"  I thought......"Wait what??"  We didn't even ask him if we could come teach him.  So we get talking with him and find out that he just moved in with his aunt who is a less-active member that we have been writing down to go see.  Turns out that the apartment number he gave us isn't the one on the records that we have, so we got a new potential investigator and a correct address for someone all in one!!  It was really cool!!!  Anyway, it was a really cool week!  I will have more miracles to report next week!  :)  Oh, and we have a baptism this weekend I'm so excited!!  I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman