Week 50

Hello Everyone!!

This past week and a half has been crazy, so I will start at the beginning.  Monday we had the opportunity to meet at the church building next to our mission office for a Specialized Training for the sisters.  It was so good!!!  I we talked about being happy in the moment.  We sisters need that a lot because we feel guilty about the past and we worry about the future, and never enjoy the in between.  So it was really good.  We also talked about having the courage to talk to people and just to do the scary parts of missionary work.  But, we did say "Here am I, send me."  As sisters, we can say that, because the Elders are already volunteered.  It was just a cool conference, and it was fun to see the sisters serving in the valley.  On Tuesday we were able to visit a lady from our ward whose husband isn't a member, and it was just good.  We are hoping that we will be able to get in with that family and start teaching him, but he has been pretty not interested in the past, but recently has been coming to church almost every week.  Then Tuesday night we were able to go with our Recent converts to the Mesa Temple and we watched them perform proxy baptisms.  One of our converts, Patsy, was able to be baptized for her mom and her mom's mom.  Then another convert was baptized for Patsy's dad and her mom's dad.  It was such a wonderful experience, I was so grateful that I had that opportunity to be there!  Then Wednesday we taught Travis and Katie a review on the Word of Wisdom, and set up a time for tomorrow to teach them the 15-step stop smoking program for them to quit smoking.  So, hopefully all goes well with that!  They weren't able to come to church because they had food poisoning, so that was sad, but they are coming to the temple with us tonight so that should be good!  Then Saturday was super busy.  Saturday morning we were able to participate in a neighborhood day of service project.  We helped scrape grass in between the sidewalk, and were able to help sweep the sidewalks because they mowed just about every lawn on our street.  It was just fun to work with the members to serve our neighborhood!  Then we were able to meet with a recent convert that night after not being able to see her for a while because she had been in the hospital.  She seemed fine, but now she is missing, so we are praying that she is safe and unharmed, because no one knows where she could be.  Anyway, then Sunday we just had church and other meetings, but our sacrament meeting went really well.  We had a couple speak who just returned from their mission in Uruguay!!  They are such a sweet couple and I'm really excited to work with them.  They gave great talks, then Sister Rudy was asked to bear her testimony since she was going to leave on Monday.  She bore a great testimony, it was just a really spiritual meeting.  Then Monday was great.  I was with Sister Walesby who came out with me, went home for medical reasons, then came back out almost three weeks ago!!!!  I was soo happy to hear that she was back and that I was going to work with her.  We were able to meet with the Johnsons and turns out that he has quit smoking and she is on the path to the temple after  her year mark in December!  So that was good news, we just have to make sure that we keep them on that path!  Then we had a really cool street contact which started with me asking a man about the apartment complex because we were going to tract there and needed apartment numbers, but there didn't seem to be any..... But it started there and lead to him asking about missions, then he asked about our beliefs so we taught him a mini lesson on the Restoration, then we gave him our number and he said he would talk to his wife, when his wife drove into their driveway.  She seemed interested, and I am super hopeful that we will be able to work with this family!  At the very least, it was a really good street contact and they now have some answers about our church!  Then yesterday I got my new companion.  Her name is Sister Crowther and she is from Clearfield, Utah.  She is 24 years old and has been serving for 14 months.  She is great and I am very excited to serve with her.  It's been just a great week and a half and I will email again in just a few days!  I hope you all have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

 Sister Rudy - just finished her mission and is heading home :D

 

 

It's my new companion!!  Sister Crowther!!  She's a sweetheart!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 49 - 20th Birthday!!!

Hello Everyone!

This week has been good!  So Monday night we were able to meet with a less-active member and her new roommate who Sister Rudy hasn't seen for a while.  We are going to try to get them on track to the temple, but it may just take a while.  It was an interesting meeting, but it was good and I'm excited to help some members make it to the temple!  Then Tuesday we had a really fun Relief Society activity and we got Katie to come with us so that was exciting!  We learned all about being prepared in an emergency, I learned a lot and hopefully gained motivation to be prepared when I have a family of my own one day!  Then Wednesday was good!  We had our Zone Training meeting and focused it all on the temple.  We talked a lot about how important it is to keep the end in mind, and be sure that all of our efforts are leading those we are teaching to the temple.  It was a good refresher to remember how important our temple covenants are and to remember the blessings that God has in store for all of us if we make those covenants!  Then we went to the Towers and saw Linda and she had hostess cakes and butterfingers for my birthday and Sister Rudy going away.  It was super cute!  We also met with a less-active young woman that just turned 12 in August and we were able to get her to go to Young Women's activity at the native ward which was really cool!  She is in between wards, so we are both going to try to work with her I guess?  I'm not quite sure, but she will be taken care of she is a very sweet girl!  Then Thursday night Sister Rudy told me that we were going to do Family History work with some other sisters because they were struggling and they wanted to sort-of hang out so that they could relax.  Anyway, they ended up getting me over to a member's home because the story was that the one sister couldn't handle being with the other sister and we needed to break them up.  Well, instead they had a surprise party waiting for me!  It was super sweet and it was quite exciting that the only real surprise party that I've had was on my mission!  So we had cupcakes and talked with each other, and took fun pictures it was great!  Then Friday was great.  We stopped by to see Travis and Katie because we had only been able to see Katie that week, but it was his birthday, so we just told him Happy Birthday then Katie stood outside and talked with us for a little bit.  While she was talking with us she told us that Travis had leaned over to her the other night and asked what she thought about them getting married next month!!  I was so excited to hear this!  They were planning on getting married in April!!!!!  The spirit definitely testified to me that this was in our Heavenly Father's plan.  It just felt so good!!  So, we are hopefully going to be seriously preparing him for baptism in the near future!  There isn't a for sure date or anything like that, but at least they aren't set on April anymore!  Then Saturday we were able to tour the Phoenix Temple!  It was a beautiful temple!  We were able to go with a less-active family and Demitri who is a solid recent convert!  So it was a good trip!!  Then Sunday we had our primary program and we had a less-active couple come that I haven't seen at church since I've been here so I was excited to see them!  It's been a great week and this week will be a busy one with Sister Rudy leaving next week!  I hope you all have a great week!  Remember to take the opportunity to share the gospel whenever you can!!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

Coke a Cola Birthday cake!!!

Mesa Zone - it's been a fun transfer :D

 Phoenix Temple open house

Week 48

Hello everyone!!

Well, another week has gone by...and another month.  I really can't believe that I've been out for 11 months today!  It's weird remembering the things that I was doing just a year ago, and it's just funny.  Anyway, this week really wasn't too exciting, but that's okay because the slow and hard weeks make the amazing weeks that much sweeter!!  So on Monday evening we were able to see a recent convert named Judy and shared a scripture with her.  We also stopped by later this week to teach her about eternal marriage but I'm not quite sure how much she grasped of it.  But she is doing better from the time I met her because she was really offended and mad when I met her so I'm really happy that her heart has softened!  Then we also saw Barbara and taught her the Plan of Salvation.  It was a good lesson and I think she really enjoyed it.  After teaching her we both decided that we think she is ready to progress toward going to the temple.  I really hope that we are able to get her there because I just want her to have those special blessings that we receive in the temple.  Then Tuesday we saw a less-active family and taught them the Plan of Salvation.  We are also trying to get them to return to the temple.  They need to make some changes in their lives to do so, but I'm confident that as we keep meeting with them that they will be able to progress!  Then Wednesday we saw Judy our investigator that I said was so awesome and I was so excited.  Well, we taught her the Restoration and invited her to be baptized and she definitely wasn't up to being baptized but she said we could still meet with her.  Then later in the week she got in a fight with her fellowshipper and so she left her Book of Mormon outside of this member's door.  So she dropped us and I was sad, but I know that Heavenly Father has someone prepared for us to teach!  Then we saw Ann Marie and Demitri and they are both doing well and hopefully on track to enter the temple as well!  Then Thursday we saw Travis and Katie and talked to them about tithing and fast offerings and I think it went well!  Sad part, they weren't able to come to church on Sunday, but he does seem to be progressing still!  We can see that he is gaining a testimony, we just hope that he can recognize it and make changes based on that testimony.  Then just before going to dinner a member called out to us and said that he had a referral for us!  He met a guy that has been starting to attend church at another building but lives in our area!  He gave us his number but the phone number didn't work, so we will try to get in contact with him in another way.  Then Saturday we saw a lady in the ward whose husband is dying of cancer right now and we offered our help to take in groceries then we got to talk to her for a little bit.  Then their son and two grandsons came in and the son asked us a couple of questions about the church but said he wasn't interested in really learning more.  Hey, at least he has some questions!  We also got to talk to a cool guy on the street and he talked to us for a good 15 minutes about the Bible and he had so much knowledge it was crazy!  We finally convinced him to take a Book of Mormon and he said that he would read it!  Then Sunday we were able to go to sacrament meeting at the Towers which is an assisted living, and it was just really fun I enjoyed it!  Then a minister from another religion attended our sacrament meeting so that was neat!  So it's been a good week!  I am also starting to read the Book of Mormon and highlight the Christlike attributes that I find.  It's been really exciting thus far and i feel like I am able study the Book of Mormon better!  I've already seen great examples of obedience, forgiveness and patience.  All things that I strive to improve on.  Anyway, I hope you are all doing well!  I love ad miss you all!!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

weeding service project :D

Week 47

Hello everyone!

This week was sooo good!  It really was amazing!  So on Tuesday we went up to Scottsdale to watch a screening of "Meet the Mormons" and it was AMAZING!!!!  Everyone who reads this needs to go and bring someone with them or at least invite someone to go and see it on their own time!  The church did an amazing job at showing Mormons from different walks of life!  I just thought it was so good and I definitely cried when it showed the missionary mom and her son leaving on her mission....I'm pretty sure that we were all crying.  But, go see it you won't regret it!  Then that night we were able to teach Travis and Katie.  We were able to teach them about the Word of Wisdom, and they received it really well!  Then Travis was able to go to the Priesthood session on Saturday night and he said that he now has a strong testimony that President Monson is truly a prophet of God.  Katie said that when he got home that night that he was just grinning from ear to ear!!  I was so happy to hear that!!!  He is definitely progressing and it is so fun to be apart of his spiritual journey!  We were also able to watch the Sunday morning session with a member in our ward in their home.  We really hope that they both got something out of that session, I think they were a little tired though.  Then Wednesday we had exchanges and it was such a great day!  So we had our District meeting in the morning and it was good, Sister Rudy gave a great talk on Hope.  Then we had some lunch, then we went to an appointment with a lady in the Assisted Living in our area, who had a friend that wanted to learn more about our church.  Her friend is Judy and she is in her late 70's.  She was so ready to receive our message!  We had a great first meeting with her and our conversation was all centered on the gospel it was great!  I was so excited coming out of that lesson, because she is fully capable of learning and grasping our message and I am pretty certain that she will progress to baptism.  Then Thursday we went by to see her and I was able to introduce her to Sister Rudy and she was so excited to see us!  She said that she was already starting to feel a part of our family!  I was so happy to hear that because that is how we want everyone to feel!  Then we haven't been able to see her since, but we will hopefully get to see her tomorrow!  Then Thursday we had another great day.  We had a lesson with Anne Marie and she is doing well, we just hope to see her at church on a more regular basis!  Then we were able to street contact 11 people through stopping on the street or tracting!  It was so great!  And two of those people said that we could come back to teach them some more!  Then conference this weekend was just great!  I hope that you all enjoyed the messages that we received from our prophets and that you were all as spiritually uplifted as I was!  I enjoyed so many of the talks, especially ones about following the prophet, because I know for myself that as we follow the prophet, that we will find so much joy in this life!  I can't wait to review the talks when they come out!  I hope that you all have a great week!  Remember to go see "Meet the Mormons".

Love,

Sister Zimmerman

 Finished another blanket

So, I totally feel like I'm living with my Soderberg grandparents, and the other day we came in from proselyting and I found this little dish of wedding mints....and grandma Soderberg always had wedding mints at her house in a little dish.  It was just funny so I had to take a picture! 
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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!!!