December 5, 2011

"Well I am here in FALLON!!! Wow, what a crazy little city!Population 5000! (3000 are Mormon) 41 churches & 42 casinos.The area that we cover in the city is beat down and run down.It’s called "the dump of Fallon." So much happiness needs toenter Fallon, and its going to have to begin within the hearts ofthe people. My companion is Sister Badger! She is so cool and hasbeen out for 3 months! :) We are having fun. The people in ourarea are stubborn and depressed ...suicidal.... We have no solidinvestigators, but we are working with 2 Recent Converts (who gotbaptized two weeks ago! Yay!!!), and a whole ton of lessactives....But I KNOW there are people here to find andteach!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This area needs work. We live in a duplex, so it’s bigger then I am used to! It’snice! It was also built in the 1940s lol (carpeting, tile,cupboard draws). No cockroaches yet! Yay! I've been cleaning andcleaning. My first night I thoroughly cleaned our bedroom, andhave picked a new room to clean since! In our bedroom thewindowsills had 1/2- 1 cm of dust on them...dirt everywhere, anddust lined every inch of the carpeting against the wall (Nevada).There was mold in the bathroom all over the shower and on theceiling, and every kitchen cabinet had mold in it too. Theapartment had lots of happy pictures of Christ, but with the dustand for whatever other reason, the air was a little sad.

Wedefinitely live in a poor area of town....Sister Badger told methat Satan has been working a ton on the missionaries...becausethis area has so much potential, but if there no motivatedmissionaries...no work progresses! TIME TO MAKE FALLON HAPPPPPYYY!!!!! Time to tell them there isreason to REJOICE! And if they don’t want us to enter theirhouses, we will bless them as we turn to find another family.Change will take place here, I know it! I have a happy heart. Iam so excited to love the ward members, to love each person wecontact...and to conquer Satan! Phew! Here we Gooooo! One thing I am supppper appreciative of is being able tounderstand people. It’s only through the spirit that we cantruly ask the right questions to gain our investigators trust andlove, so they can open up. Before they open up, we have to. I amso LOVING giving my heart away and motivating people!! I loveit!! My life goal is to be a leader for life! I love people and Ilove encouraging them! Everyone matters! GO YOU! So, back tounderstanding those we teach...I've heard so MANY personalstories. So many people’s personal problems and deep soulquestions. I've listened to so many fears. Felt everyone’s painto one extent. The only person who entirely knows us is JesusChrist. He is amazing! He truly knows just HOW we feel! I feel sohonored to have truly come to know so many feelings in life. Missions are so special. It’s a special opportunity to learn. Idon’t just walk past a person on the street and think, "Theyare dumb looking!" rather, my heart is full to the brim with loveand compassion. I ask myself, "What might this person need? Whatare they going through? How can I help them? They matter so much.I am here to help you. I am here to tell you about your SaviorJesus Christ." ln Relief Society last Sunday, the sister giving the lesson was aschool teacher. We were talking about the trials we face in life.She said, "3 of my students have committed suicide this pastyear. I have no idea what might be running through their head toeven do something like that!!" My heart leapt when I heard this!Because I DO know what is running through their head! I had aspecial connection with her comment, because I've truly sat andlistened to so many of our past investigators across Las Vegaswho had suicidal pasts.

My heart still holds their pain, my handsalways willing to extend towards them to love them. Everyoneneeds uplifting. I love everyone I've been able to meet! I loveeee talking aboutJesus Christ! It is why I am so happy! We talk of Christ eachday!!! To those who make mistakes, who suffer, who never haveknown joy; To those who have never experienced faith, or known ofHope... Here is JESUS CHRIST. He doesn’t stand with just onearm open, he stands with two! We are engraved upon his hands. Weare in HIS heart; we are always in his MIND.

He walks each pathof eternity with US in mind. His every move is caring, and isrolling forth the progression of Heaven. I am so excited to bear his name in this city. Many hearts needto be warmed. Many minds need to be intrigued by the gospel ofJesus Christ. Let the journey begin... Fallon is sooo amazing though!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We live RIGHT in theheart of the oldest part of the area....the downtown! The mainstreet is lined with flags and Christmas lights...the downtownlooks like Eagle River! Just run down a bit. This whole area isdiverse. Fallon has an annual rodeo, county fair, there is aMARSH here!! What the??, a racecar speedway, and many otherthings. Our area has a NAVAL base, and an INDIAN RESORVATION. Wehave two family wards, and our area is huge! Like 15-20 mileswide at one point! For the past year I’ve been stuck in small areas...2x3 miles atthe largest! So it’s SO fun to drive through the country!

Thisis farming country; they grow barley and wheat, alfalfa and corn!They have OAK trees here!!!! It’s like being in Wisconsin...alittle! Its so fun going to the naval base...I feel cool! And the IndianReservation is sweet! However, the people aren’t too friendlyto us, because we are white. There are Native American members inthe church! It’s so fun to visit them! All of these farmers andNA (Native Americans), live in small houses out in the countrywith a ton of land, chickens, cows, horses, dogs, a million and ahalf cats, and ducks, and geese...it’s so FUN! And even thoughthe people don’t have a lot of money, they give us SO much.I've never felt such Immediate LOVE! They give and give tous...it’s so special. They all have so many special storiesthat they share with us, about past missionaries serving them!

I keep asking the Native Americans If I look Native American!!(Because I AM!!! YAY!!!!), one sweet member last night said, asshe pointed and squinted at my face, "Yes, Yes...From the norththough...Canada." I said "YES!!! Wisconsin!" and she said "Yes,because the northerners have lighter skin...You are a pale face!"and she burst out laughing. I did too, because I didn’t knowwhat else to do! :) I love being Native American. When we go tothe Reservation for the Shoshone and Pauite tribes, I pray thatmy native tongue will be loosed. Ha! :)

The ward members are AMAZING!!!!!!! Both the 5th and 6th wards!!!It’s so fun just becoming part of their families! On my firstnight we had dinner with a family and they had all theirrelatives in town. I took the pan of homemade roles and cut themand served everyone. They all laughed! Hey, we are all family! :)Having immediate love for those you serve is KEY. The Lord needsus right away! The Lord needs YOU right away! The first few days in Fallon.... I was a little worried. But, letme tell you of an experience that changed my perspective aboutFallon, for LIFE! Friday night they had a Christmas tree lighting Ceremony .15miles from our house. They have a huge Christmas tree in theheart of the downtown on Main Street! We went and it was SOFUN!!!!!!!!! We kept running into members, and there was a happyspirit in the air!!! Everyone was bundled up because it wasFREEZING COLD!!! Everyone was happy! So it made me happy knowingthere ARE happy citizens of Fallon! :)

People were selling hotchocolate..There was a school choir singing on a set of bleachersnext to the tree, and anyone could join! The fire department hadFREE cookies!!!!!!!!! Along the sides of the streets they had acraft fair! People milled in and out of the smallstores...Hundreds of Fallonites gathered around the tree and wehad a countdown for the lighting at exactly 6PM! And when theytree lit up, everyone clapped!

On each of the light poles on Main Street there are lights andthey also have Christmas lights draped and zigzagged all acrossthe street for a mile! Each of those light poles had a black boxattached to the top that made SNOW! So when the lights on theChristmas tree were lit, all of the black boxes started to cranksnow flakes, and I promise you, this whole scene should have beenin a movie!! Sister Badger and I took a picture together by thetree, and visited a cowboy shop and found a family to teach! :)

Cowboys kept coming in with their hats on....looking for newsaddles/ horse hitches etc...And there was FREE chili andchocolates! Jewelers were making jewelry....Man, FALLON IS FULLOF SUPRIZES!!!! Aren't you just LOVING Fallon too??? On Saturday at the small fair grounds, they had another Christmasparty!!! We paid our entry with canned food items! The LDS churchhosted a cake walk. Inside the building there was another craftfair. Outside there was a live band singing Christmas music!!!There were 2 fire pits and people were roasting marshmallows!!!They were using broken pallets to keep the fire burning! HAHA! Isaid, "That’s hick! Oh well, THIS CITY IS AWESOME!" There was aChristmas tree decorating contest....so we toured about 40 trees.The whole evening was awesome as well. ANDDDD my soul hasliterally been crushed, because I have not seen a Hispanic personin 1 week! BUTTT a Mormon Hispanic, BIG family came up to us andpointed at our name tags! My soul rejoiced as I tried talkingwith them! :) We have just been so busy. We are going through area booksvisiting part member families. We are trying to find more peopleto teach. They will come, and I will write about them next week. STAY BUSY and WARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My body LOVES thisweather! 15-40 degrees!!! YAY! I feel normal! I feel great! :)

PLEASE WATCH: https://lds.org/youth/video/temple-blessings-in-el-salvador?lang=eng

IT’S AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! SISTER HAPPY SPROUSE!