Merry CHRISTmas!!!

     So this week Sister Arndt and I were talking and she asked me why we call is Christmas. I told her I had no clue but that "mas" in spanish is more, so it technically is saying more Christ. Later we went to a Christmas devo for the missionaries and there our President said the same thing. WHAT WHAT!? Yep, President and I are in tune. Just kidding. So This week. More miracles happened of course. We went on exchanges and the sister training leader I was with looked at me and said "you know everyone calls you two the miracle sisters right?" I just laughed. Really the work Sister Arndt and I do is not our own. We are definitely guided by the spirit in all things. So anyway this week during weekly planning we were looking through one of the sections and there is this guy in there who was baptized about a year ago and then disappeared. We thought he had passed away because he was very sick and no one even in the ward had heard from him. For some weird reason though we wanted to know if he was still alive. So we looked at the membership record behind it and decided we should just try to call the number on it and see what happens. Guess what!! He totally answered! He had gone down to LA to be with his son but he had just moved back to his old apartment up here! So we are going over on Tuesday to start the new member lessons. We are so excited we found him! That is really a huge miracle! Also on exchanges we were able to reset Lydia's date! She is now scheduled for January 8th! She is so great! We taught her about Joseph Smith and she looked at us and said "I just watched something on the bible...." At this point I thought oh great, it is probably all wrong. But then she continued on to say "It makes sense that we would need a restoration." AH!! YES!! We are so excited for her! The little girls are doing really well too! We are going over there tonight to do a Christmas message and make gingerbread houses. Sister Arndt's mom sent her a13lb package of food for gingerbread houses.
     OH! Speaking of! Mom! Thank you so much for the 12 days of Christmas package! We have loved opening something every day!
Also I have some of the greatest friends. In case you were all wondering. I got this huge package the other day from Spenser and Jamie and I almost died when I opened it!
I do have a request though....please NO more candy until at least June of next year. I am not joking when I say I am going to come home 100 lbs heavier because of all of the junk food you people are sending me. I really do love it and unfortunately for me I am eating all of it but now I need to take a break and not eat so horribly. I need my closes to fit me for the next year and a half.
     Oh! Oh! Oh! Mom is going to love this but I never thought I would say this. I am SO tired of singing! Sister Arndt has volunteered me to sing for almost all of the ward during our messages and that is ok but we do the same song so I am getting tired of that one. We put together and arrangement of Savior Redeemer of My Soul and I Stand All Amazed. After the Elders in our district heard it they asked us to put together a christmas song. So we did and then we got volunteered to sing at the Christmas devotional. So I did that for about 50-60 missionaries. Then we were volunteered to sing at Brother Landy's funeral on Saturday so we sang I Need Thee Ever Hour because Sister Landy said that one was the one he liked the most that we sang to him at the hospital. Then yesterday at church we were volunteered to sing in sacrament. So we did our Christmas arrangement again and I think we are finally done for a couple days. I have now officially sang for about 200+ people and I am still terrified every time I get up. I don't like singing to people. Guys. I can't sing. I don't know why I am being asked to do this so much. Anyway the Christmas arrangement we did was a medley of The First Noel, and Silent Night, with a line of Oh Come All Ye Faithful. It was really sweet once it was all put together! We are both really proud of it!...just for the fact that we both did the arranging so it was new to everyone who heard it. Brother Landy's son came up to us after sacrament and asked who did the arranging of it. We told him that both of us had done it and he looked at us in amazement. He then told us that He was at the brink of tears when he heard it. This guy isn't just some mormon guy who loves music. Picture this, a thick man with tattoos up his arm, and has been in and out of prison multiple times. Mission Accomplished! He is so great and I am so grateful we could invite the spirit that much with our number.
     I keep forgetting to mention this. I got THE cutest cards from Candice the past couple of weeks. Talk about adorable children! So cute! Also is Patton strangling Alice in them? I am assuming the family got them as well...
     Question for all you RMs. Did you ever have to deal with people getting upset about 1 Nephi 14:10? We are at a loss for what we can do for these people. The scripture talks about the great and abominable church. We have explained that it is anything that keeps people from reaching their full potential and that there is good, better, and best. We have talked constantly and told them that it does not mean we are telling them they are going to hell because of what they believed. We have been bold and told them that you can't serve God and Mammon and that if it is not from God it is basically of the devil. Really there is no other way to explain it. Either you are following Heavenly Father and reaching your full potential or you aren't. It is that simple. Obviously we haven't been that rude about saying it but that is the gist of what we have said. And this has been over a good 6 or 7 weeks now.
Alright on to the next thing. Christmas as a missionary is one of the greatest things ever! Talk about really focusing on the Savior and all that He has done for us. I have loved not worrying about presents or worldy things. I have been able to really study the Savior's life and become more grateful for what He has done. I have loved really focusing on the Sacrament and making it a spiritual experience each Sunday. Before the mission I kind of dreaded going to church just because it was so long. After being out I have realized that it is a really commandment to go to church each week and partake of the Sacrament. I have also realized how lucky I am to partake of that Sacrament each week and show my gratitude to the Savior and renew my covenants with my Heavenly Father. What a better way to start off the week than focusing on the most important part of the Church! Family and friends; I love the Savior and I know He lives. I know He loves each one of His children individually and He needs my help and the help of all of the missionaries to bring those lost sheep to Him. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary for Him. I am trying my very best to be the missionary He wants me to be and I pray that I will be able to reach the potential that He sees in me.
I hope you all have a great CHRISTmas. I love you all and miss you!
Sister Skeeter. 

You Know Your Apartment Walls Are Paper Thin When...

You Know Your Apartment Walls are PAPER thin when....

1) You can hear people whispering outside of your apartment

2) You hear the gurgle of the sprinklers before they pop out of the grass at night,

3) Your neighbor wakes you up at 5:50 in the AM knocking on, banging (shaking the entire apartment), and ringing your next door neighbors door bell.

I am not joking when I say I could easily punch a hole through our walls. They are so thin. We can hear anything and everything that goes on outside and next door. It doesn't really help when your neighbor is listening to rap while trying to study....

Anyway this week I have a funny story for you. Actually I have a couple. I don't remember if I already wrote about some of these so sorry if I repeat myself again.

This week we taught Kaitlin Angelina and Melissa and we taught them the Plan of Salvation. While we were doing that I mentioned that their grandpa still had the same personality and that he was probably up there teasing people still. Melissa then looks at me and says "Is he teasing Jesus?" hahahaha! I had no clue how to answer that. And Another funny thing We talked about the spirit world and how we don't have bodies for a while and she says "I don't want that." Why? we asked her. "Because I can't have cheese cake up there!" Seriously! She is so funny! I was dying at that statement! It reminded me of a couple of weeks ago.

We didn't have a dinner set up and it was the day after Thanksgiving so the lady who does out calendar said we could come get left overs from her. While we were there her son was there (He is older and has a family. He was just raiding the kitchen with his older son) and we grabbed a couple pieces of the pumpkin cheese cake and he says something like "those are our porky missionaries!"......Yeah we are known for how much we eat together. Yikes. Actually he was totally kidding but Sister Arndt and I really do love our sweets. It is so bad! We are working on being more healthy. I need to do more cardio in the morning but I have been working on my legs since I got here because that doesn't require too much energy while I am still trying to wake up. So now I have some killer Calves (not joking)! Time to work on my arms! Hehe!

So my birthday was great! I had dinner and dessert at a members home and it was so funny. They gave me a bag of M&Ms (yay!) and a stuffed monkey (random right?). Then they gave my companion a purple bear. After dinner the youngest son looks at us and says "I need to tell you the story about the animals! I picked them out because bears "Arndt" purple and moneys live in the "woods"! haha! He is so funny! Ok I don't have time for more updates but Next week for sure!

Don't forget me! Love you all!

Sister Skeeter.

Plan of Salvation

So this week was really sad! One of our less actives that we have been teaching passed away last night. I didn't think it was going to be so sad to see him go. He was this hilarious older guy and he had such an attitude! We loved going to his home because we would always tease each other. Seriously I miss him a ton already! We got to go sing to him while he was in the hospital this week and I could not hold it together. I started crying just seeing him hooked up to all of those machines. He was in the CCU for a couple of days and then they took him off life support and moved him to the 6th floor. We got to sing to him twice and the first time we went his heart was working at 35% and when we were done singing (after about 45 mins) his heart was working at 91%. The spirit was so strong there and it was incredible! We got to sing to him on Saturday as well. His family knew he was going quickly so they asked us to come and sing so he would be comfortable. We raced down there and sang for a good hour or so. It is amazing to see the Lord work because each time we came to sing he would be completely at ease and resting well. After we finished singing we said our goodbyes and told him that we still expected him to be in the sealing room at our weddings. We frequently talked about having their family at our weddings. So we told him we would have an open seat for him and that we still wanted him there. So there will be an empty seat at my wedding for Brother Landy in the sealing room. I wish you guys could have known him. So this week Sister Arndt and I have really been focusing on the plan of salvation and how we can best teach it to them at this time. Oh, we are teaching three of his granddaughters for baptism and we have an appointment with them on Wednesday. So it was definitely the Lord's timing with that. We should have taught The Plan a long time ago but we kept having different things come up that we need to teach. The Lord lives and His timing is perfect!

I never would have guessed that something like this would happen on my mission. I am grateful for the opportunity to have known Brother Landy and that I will be able to see him again. I am dying now wanting to make sure that His temple work gets done.

Well, on to happier things. Mikayla!!!!! "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SMALLS!...I'M FAT!!" name that movie! Oh man. Mikayla it is going to be sad not being able to talk to you on your birthday but don't worry I will talk to you on Christmas morning! Also tomorrow I will be going to a member's home who knows it is my birthday and they are so excited to have us there for it. Also mom you can respond when Sister Henry sends you messages. She is the member who is feeding us tomorrow. They LOVE having the missionaries come and they love hearing from our moms as well. They kind of remind me of the Zufelt family....a little bit. Anyway I also get to go to the temple on Friday and I am SO stoked. I cannot tell you how excited Sister Arndt and I are to go. It was been WAY too long since I have been able to go. So I will be doing that for my birthday as well. Mom I haven't gotten you package yet but I will let you know as soon as I do.

So, all of you people who read this don't be too jealous when I tell you that it is still sunny and about 50 degress here. Not a big deal. I think this will be the first sunny birthday I have ever had (watching it rain tomorrow just because I said that).

Oh my goodness! The Christmas devotional was so good! The spirit was so strong during Elder Nelson's talk. I loved how he had the Savior's voice in there!

About the work here:

Lydia has had to push her baptismal date back for a few reasons and now we are hoping to set another date with her on Tuesday. Melissa, Kaitlyn, and Angelina are doing so well! We taught them on Friday and we gave them some reading to do in the Book of Mormon and in the Picture Book of Mormon. We stopped by the next day to ask about their grandpa (Brother Landy) and they told us that they had done all of the reading and had been praying as well! They went on to say that they had a warm happy feeling while they did these things and that they were so excited to be baptized! I love teaching little kids! They are so open to the spirit it is incredible!

Oh! So mom, you know how Jeffrey is in a dangerous spot. This story isn't going to make you feel any better. So the other day we got a letter from a random address in the apartment complex that we live it and it was sent to "occupant/BYU" I figured that was for Sister Arndt. She opened it and it was some anti Mormon material. We quickly tore it up and tossed it. The next day we went to the other Sister's apartment that live 2 apartments down from us and told them about this letter we got. They said they had received the same thing and it was from apartment 1006. We stopped for a second and then realized that that was our apartment number. I then remembered the number on ours and it had their number on it. So moral of the story is; someone around us hates Mormons, and knows that we are members and that we know each other. Someone is stalking us. Not a big deal......ok maybe it is a small deal. We told our Zone Leaders and they were shocked. They said if it happens again we need to tell president right away. So we will see what happens with that.

Jeffrey is in some dangerous parts huh? Tell him he better be exactly obedient! That is the only way he will be safe in those areas.

Well, this is definitely a scattered email but that is ok. I know there is more that I needed to talk about but I guess that will have to wait until next week. Love you all!

Sister Skeeter"

First Transfer Done Week 6

Well, I have officially survived my first transfer! And this transfer I will be staying in the same area with Sister Arndt. It will be a good one again! We are both known as the miracle sisters. Ever time the other missionaries see us we have another incredible story for them. And the things that are happening to us rarely happen to missionaries I guess. Sweet! That is what we get for being exactly obedient! Blessings! 

So Jeffrey gets to watch Disney movies? That is weird. The only movie I watch out here in the Restoration, and the District episodes. Whoo! He gets away with a lot of weird stuff. Does his mission president allow that? 

Any thanks giving was great this year! I realized this was my second one away from home. Last year I was in Vegas! I can't believe it has been a year since that happened. This year we went to an awesome family who made the regular thanksgiving meal! We did a little grateful activity with them and then had to go out and work. I don't understand why they say holidays are great for working. Those are the last days people want to see us on their doorsteps. We did a lot of work with our Less Active members and had district meeting that day so that was good.

District meetings are the best things in the world. The missionaries in our district (obviously) get together and we talk about investigators we need help with miracles that have happened, we do role plays, and hear a couple talks from missionaries. They are definitely inspired and I learn a ton each time. It is funny because we edpep (role play) and evertime except for once I have been put with the missionary who is going home this transfer. Talk about nerve racking. I am this brand new missionary and I have to teach this Elder who is seasoned and incredible! The funny part is that I always get nervous and then I end up doing a pretty good job. Wish I could do that in real life!

Oh! Cheryl is a member now! It is so incredible to see her in with the ward now! She even got up and bore her testimony on Sunday. Yes! Lydia is still on Date forDec 14 and we are really grateful that we will be here to teach and baptize her as well! Oh! My favorite part of the week! We went to this families home for Thanksgiving and while we were there we asked for a referral. Brother Landy (the grandpa) says I think Kaitlyn is ready for baptism! She is 14 and had been planning on being baptized but it never ended up happening. Not sure why but we asked her if she still wanted to and she said yes! So we set up a time to go start teaching her. As we were leaving she looks at us with this huge smile and says "I feel so good right now! I feel happy!" That is seriously one of the best things you could hear as a missionary! We told her that that was the Holy Ghost telling her that what she was doing was right. We also told her that when she is baptized and confirmed she can always have that feeling with her. It is so great when the feel the Holy Ghost because it makes explaining him a lot easier! We also have this investigator named Mikayla. She is 17 right now and she said she wants to be baptized as soon as she can! She is dating a boy in the ward and comes to church and earlier morning seminay. She wants her boyfriend to go on a mission and makes him pay attention to everything in seminary. That is the type of girlfriend I like to see! We will hopefully really start teaching her this week! 

Well I need to get going, but there are so great things going on in this area! We are super excited and I can't wait to tell you more about everything! Have a great week! I miss you all!

Sister Skeeter."

Happy Thanksgiving! Week 5

Definitely my favorite post yet!

Title "Happy Thanksgiving!!"

"    Well since it is almost Thanksgiving I will talk about that....in a sec. First I need to tell you Cheryl is getting baptized on Wednesday!!!! She has been taking the lessons from a lot of people including Sister Lillywhite! ( some of you know who she is.) I am so excited I am able to server where Sister Lillywhite and Sister Wilkinson did! That is so cool! So yes Cheryl's baptism came completely by surprise. We had a prompting to go visit her on Friday so we did and we ended up reading the baptismal interview questions with her. She looked at us and said "Is that all I need to know?" Yes! So we set a date and here we are! We are so excited! Cheryl has basically been a mormon her whole life. She lives and breathes service. She will be a relief society president one day. She is incredible and I wish you all could meet her! Family maybe i will take you down to see her one day. She would love that! I will send pictures soon. It is just a pain to pring them and send them. So mom and dad you will have to scan them and post them on here for me!

      Ok, I got the sweetest package this week and I was very close to crying. Thank you for the nice notes you sent me! And I wish I had time to write down everything that I was grateful for. I started thinking about everything that I was grateful for this week and one has stuck in my head every single day. Mom I don't know if you should read this. You WILL cry. So here you go this is what I have been thinking about this holiday season.

       First I want to say that I am so grateful for my Savior. While being out here I have really been able to strengthen my relationship with him. I wasn't sure how until I got out here. I have realized that a lot of it is really appreciating what He did for me and making the sacrament a sacred time to think about what he did and why he did it. And reading the Book of Mormon has been a huge part of it. We tell people every day that it will bring them closer to their Savior but I didn't really understand that. I had been reading it my whole life and didn't really notice a difference at all. Now that I have an hour every day to learn and really study it for myself I have come to really understand that it most defintiely does make you closer to the Savior. I can feel him and his love EVERY time I read it. It is incredible (Oh and little side note get reading your scriptures people! The end is coming and you need to be prepared! Don't take that book for granted!)! Anyway I just wanted to start with that so you wouldn't think I forgot about Him.

     Now I am grateful for my mom. This week has really made me appreciate all that she has done for me and my siblings. Wow! I wonder where she learned how to be such an incredible mother and wife. There is a family out here who has six kids (one boy) and they have homemade meals every night. I totally thought about my mom and how she is always making us yummy homemade dinners and I dawned on my how many people don't have that. How sad is that!? I am also grateful for the fun family nights we were able to have! We are teaching a family how to hold FHE and it makes me miss our little lessons with pictures and the one about the boy who stole this really cool fire truck and then felt bad when he was playing with it so he confessed and repented. Haha! Oh the memories! My mom definitely made growing up a fun and loving experience. In preach my gospel it talks about how the home is the best place to learn, teach, and apply gospel principles. My mom's home was that place 100%. She taught us about the gospel and in a way that we could understand and learn to love it. It wasn't a chore. Now she has two kids on missions, and fully supports what they do. We receive cute packages with yummy treats (which by the way mom. I AM going to get fat if you keep sending those :)). When she asked me what I wanted for Christmas I realized that she should not be asking me that. She is already paying for my mission (ok my dad is helping too) and sending us things. Mom this year for Christmas I really don't want anything. I am so grateful to you and for all that you have done for our family. I pray for you every night and I love you! I hope things are going well for the family (Dang it! I am going to cry! I need to stop. I will finish up....). It has not gone unnoticed and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent me to you. I could not ask for a better mother. 

     This Thanksgiving I am grateful for my mom.Ok you can stop crying now mom I am done. :) I hope this all makes sense. I have just been typing what has come to my mind. I love and miss you all (especially my family) and I will talk to you guys soon! Don't forget me!

Sister Skeeter"