Working hard!

Missionary work is tiring! I love what I am doing, but it is anything but easy! 

This week was jam packed! We taught over 20 lessons! Some in person, and some over video chat. We did so much service! We walked a lady in our ward's dog, supported a member who wanted to quit smoking, helped set up for Kennedy's wedding, and helped out at FOOD SHARE!

Oh did I mention? KENNEDY GOT MARRIED! We've been teaching her for about four months, and she is now getting ready to move to Utah! She wants to get baptized, but wants to wait until she goes to church and meets people! 

My little cousin got baptized this Sunday, and I got permission to zoom in for a little bit! CONGRATULATIONS, ELEANOR! I love you, and I'm proud of you!

We got to meet Sergio in person this week! We gave him a church tour, and introduced him to our ward mission leader and his wife! He is progressing really quickly, and has a great foundational testimony!

Sister Lee and I put together a Fireside over zoom for our ward (with a bit of help from the Elders in our ward). We had a couple of speakers who shared their testimonies, and Elder Lkhagvadorj and I sang for a little musical number! It was hard to plan, but went well! 

We went to IHOP for my 13-month mark because a member gave us a gift card! We had to sit outside under tents, but we were the only ones there, and it was so fun. 

Have a great week!

Sister Hadden 

New friends!

We met a new friend over Facebook this week! Facebook works, people are really searching, and also spending a lot of time on the internet! Sister Lee messaged this guy, Sergio, and he wanted to learn more. We have had three lessons with him since then, and he is so cool! He is a truck driver and a father of three. He wants to grow closer to God and is reading the Book of Mormon daily!

This Saturday was Charlotte's quit date! She is now living the Word of Wisdom and is doing sooo great! She received a blessing of strength from one of our ward members and loved it! As we were leaving she said, "I could conquer the world". Her baptism is in three weeks and she is so excited! As always please keep her in your prayers!

We had exchanges this week with our Sister Training leader, Hermana Stoker, and she is so great! I learned a lot from her about how to set goals that are reachable!

We've had the craziest schedule lately, running all day, every day. It is so great though. We had so many opportunities to serve this week. We helped our Relief Society president clean out her kitchen for a remodel, a member bring tables back to the church, and Food Share of course. We teach lessons all day, every day, too. All our people are doing awesome! 

The Relief Society had a cute drive-through to give all the sisters gifts! They handed out cute restoration proclamations and flowers! 

We had interviews with President and Sister Carter this week. They are the sweetest! We've actually seen them a lot this week.  They came to our district sacrament meeting this week, and we had a devotional with them on Sunday over zoom. They shared how excited they are to be here and their testimonies!

It's been a great week.

Love, 

Sister Hadden

Another Busy Week

We met our new Mission President and his wife this week! We had a district meeting and got to hear them speak. Sister Carter showed us an adorable slideshow of their family. They had us ask them questions about themselves. They are so kind, and excited to be here! President Carter is a former ER doctor, and told us some cool stories! He shared a message about how our Heavenly Father's motivation is love, our Savior's motivation was love, and our motivation for this work, for everything, should be love! It was great!

We had so many service projects this week!  We helped Tomas and his family with their tree house. We were there for about ten minutes, and he was like, "Well, we've done everything I had planned. You can leave if you want." We were like, "No, we can stay and do more!" He came up with a few more jobs, and we were able to help out for longer.  We helped a family in Santa Paula--the Nelsons--to lay sod in their back yard. They are doing a bunch of home improvement projects during the quarantine. We did the food share project again this week! 

We found some new friends this week! Matt and Grace are a couple that live here in Fillmore! They are a miracle find. Sister Lee messaged Matt, and he was interested in learning! We asked him when a good day and time would be, and he goes, "Right now"! We call and he said his girlfriend was going to join in! They are going through a lot in their lives right now, and really connected to the atonement when we shared it with them! Edwin we also found through FB! He lives in Houston, Texas and is sooo cool. We've had two lessons already, and he loves learning. He always says he feels something when we meet! He is starting to read the Book of Mormon on the gospel library app and is so in tune with the Spirit! 

We went on exchanges this week. I got to teach a bunch of English lessons with Hermana Butler to people all over the world! It was really fun, and I mostly just sat and smiled (because I don't know that much Spanish). I want to learn more, though!

Wow, this email is already soo long! So much has happened this week! Keep Charlotte in your prayers again! She is doing so great!

We had a crazy week with bugs...I'll put some pictures! Haha! I had an encounter with a Black Widow, our apartment has been infested with roaches, and I found a super cool beetle and scared my companion with it! Good times! LOL!

Pics:  After service, adventures at the Harbor, President and Sister Carter, and bugs

It's the Fourth of July!

Fillmore lived up to expectations! We had to be in by 7 pm, but we could still see and hear soooo many fireworks from our apartment. The big fireworks shows were canceled because of COVID, but you would not know it. The illegal ones people were setting off made up for it! It literally sounded like we were living in a war zone with fireworks going off all across town! It was fun to sit and watch them! 

We got a new Mission President and companion this week! I'll miss President and Sister Nakken, who left this Tuesday. Our new Mission leaders seem awesome, though! We haven't been able to meet them in person yet but spoke to them on the phone. They called us about our friend Charlotte, who is on date. So sweet! We will meet them this Wednesday.

We saw miracles this week! We started teaching this guy Tomas, and he has three kids whom he wants to be at all the lessons! He is a bit stuck in his ways, but we are hoping to soften his heart. Also, one of the recent converts in our ward is HIS COUSIN! What!? Crazy miracle. 

Charlotte is doing great! Send prayers her way! 

We got to do lots of service this week! We cleaned a less active member's house, burned down cut branches at a member's house, and were able to help out with Foodshare. Because we are in a state of emergency, Foodshare is giving boxes of produce and non-perishables to any families who need them on a first come, first served basis. Lots of people are unemployed right now. They set up a drive-through so we could just drop the food boxes in peoples' cars as they drove by. It was so much fun, and we get to go back next week!

Quick spiritual thought:

We can learn sooo much from the scriptures! They are the words of prophets, and the SPsalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I love the Bible and the Book of Mormon! The Spirit teaches us as we read them. They can help us find answers, learn lessons, and grow closer to God!

All around, a great week here in CA! Hope you all are safe, healthy, and doing well! 

Sister Hadden 

Pictures: service!, sister Lee's six-month mark, the Fourth of July