New companion and the work is going forth!‏

What a week! So this is what a new transfer feels like. It's pretty AMAZING so far.

My new companion Sister Stewart is just literally the BEST! I love her so much already and we connected immediately. There's been a lot of changes, though! For instance, I don't drive anymore! I'm co-pilot which means I have to do all the backing up outside the car now, ha! She's the senior comp so she drives. She's 22, from Vernal, Utah, and a Vet Tech graduate! So cool! AND EVEN COOLER, she was my MTC Comp's trainer. So she was with Sister McClellan last transfer. Now she knows both of us! She said she's the luckiest missionary in the mission to get both of us back to back as companions haha. So now Sister Stewart is my follow up trainer and I am learning a TON. She is great at talking to people and keeping the gospel so simple and straight forward. The work is going forth so fast now that she is here; it's amazing. We have seen a lot of miracles already. 

One day, we just had one miracle after another. First, we were going to see a potential named Jake. We weren't sure what was going to happen, but it was super weird, every time I went to talk about Jake, the name "Russell" would accidentally come out. Even when I was praying before going to the lesson! I would accidentally say Russell! Now, Russell is another potential we tried to set an appt with a few weeks ago, who was a media referral from a few years ago that said he is ready to have God in his life now that he is getting clean from his addictions. Super cool! Except he didn't show up to his appt and we were sad and didn't have his # and couldn't get in touch again... But I knew we needed to keep trying. So anwyay, we're going to Jake's, but I kept feeling like we needed to go see Russell. We go to Jake's and he's not home, so I know for sure we HAVE to go see Russell. And we drive all the way there and BAM, he's just pulled up to his house and we catch him!!! And he apologizes for not being home last time, honestly forgetting he had another appt and we immediately set up a new appt! And got his # this time. He had a friend there too that was interested that might come to the lesson, too! MIRACLE! Finally got an appt with him! It's this tuesday and we hope it happens this time! 

Next, we felt prompted to go see a less-active who has goats and Sister Stewart loves goats cuz she's a farm girl that has goats at her house in Utah so that made her happy. But, while we were there, we got a text from a member, Sister Hawken, that asked us to drop off invitations for the ward's Easter activity the next day at a former investigator's house that is starting to get interested in studying again. We said sure! But then she said, "actually she's at my house if you want to come her!" We happened to be literally right around the corner from her house... And so we did! And we saw this investigator we have also been trying to get in touch with forever! It worked out so perfectly... Miracle! And even more of a miracle, we got to watch the #Hallelujah video with her at Sister Hawken's and leave with a prayer, and it was so powerful. Then, Sister Hawken invited her to our dinner appointment we have with the Sister Hawken on Wednesday. Ahhh so awesome! So we might actually get a real lesson with her! Woo! It was a miracle. 

Want to know the greatest miracle of that day? We went to Randy's after that with a mission in mind... to encourage him to "bury his weapons of rebellion" (referring to the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's) and get rid of what was holding him back from his baptism (namely, certain magazines). And HE DID IT. He simply left the doorway with the trashbag we brought, put them in there, and BAM, they were GONE! MIRACLE! He was initially not wanting to change at all and not interested in getting baptized anymore because of it. But, he changed. The magazines are gone and in the TRASH! YEAH! That's faith right there. Things are progressing with Randy and we are in touch with his daughter to FOR SURE get a date that works for his family to be at his baptism and she is all for supporting him in his new faith and helping him live it (how legit is that? missionary opportunities for her now!). 

Sister Stewart and I have decided that if we strive to be exactly obedient, that we will see blessings and miracles. And we so have! The hardest way it has been to be exactly obedient this week is we only have 50 miles left for the car for the rest of the month and this area is HUGE and it's a normal day to go drive 30 miles a day. So it has been TOUGH, but we have just been getting rides and parking and walking a LOT and using our bikes. We are trying our very best not to go over on miles and be exactly obedient! It takes sacrifice, but the Lord always blesses us for sacrifice. I love working together with Sister Stewart! She is so solid! We have been seeing success. And we are having fun!

Easte Sunday was lovely. I played I Believe In Christ on violin with Sister Vach on piano and it was incredible... the spirit was so strong and I was SO grateful to share my testimony through music. It's the best way I know how. The ward was all in tears... I love music so much! We had Easter dinner at the Toomey's house and it was the BEST! That family is so dang funny, I love them! Sister Toomey is the YW president and is awesome. She has 3 boys and they are hilarious. Brother Toomey said something SO FUNNY! He was telling us he shared the #Hallelujah video on facebook with his testimony (yes!) and he goes, "Yeah that video is great! Pound Hallelujah!" And I said..."Pound Hallelujah??? You mean, hashtag???" HAHAHA! He goes "In my day # is called pound!!!" Oh my gosh we all died laughing! POUND HALLELUJAH! :) They made our day and even made our night better, because Sister Stewart and I had a TOUGH evening of nothing happening even though we tried so many people. We did however, meet a less-active that said we can come back in two weeks! But we were bummed and cold and we were walking around in icy rain and it was hard. But then Sister Toomey texted and said, "Come back you forgot your Easter treats!" Ahhh little tender mercies...She gave us homemade filled chocolate eggs of all flavors. It was just what we needed after a long day. 

The Lord loves us. The Savior lives. He suffered, he bore the burdens, and he overcame them, even death. Death is not the end. We will all live again. Everyone! What a gift! 

I am doing well now. All adjusted into missionary life. We'll see what happens this second transfer! Wow, time goes fast. I've been out for 2 months already. 

Take care, all! 

Love,

Sister Eldridge

PS: PICSSS! Sister Loeak and I at transfers. Our last pics together! 

And Sister Stewart and I after a tough Sunday night, but we got eggs!!! 

Sister Juliann Marie Eldridge
Washington Federal Way Mission
23175 224th PI SE Ste E
Maple Valley, WA 98038
United States

TRANSFERS

Wow. My very first transfer of the mission is over?!?! That's insane. 7 weeks already. That went so fast. And I still don't know what's going on most of the time! Haha. Just kidding. I know what's going on like....10% of the time...

FIRST OF ALL: Thank you SO MUCH FOR THE BOX! I LOVE the MCO CD and I listen to it like every day. I am in love with it. Can someone find out what time signature "Alleluia" is in because I've been trying to dictate it in my head and I feel like it could be in 7/8 but I could be way off (my mind just keeps going 1-2,1-2,1-2-3 and I've been conducting it in 3). HAHA MUSIC NERD MUCH?!?! Anyway, thanks for everything! Loved the Easter card! And the Robin Eggs! AND THE FLASHDRIVE! Thanks Adam! And everything.That box made my day. Thank you thank you thaaank you! <3

Gosh, I feel like it's been forever since I've written since P-Day is on Tuesday this week with transfers and all. SISTER LOEAK IS GETTING TRANSFERED! :( But it's all good, cause she's gonna be a Sister Training Leader in Renton, which is like, right next to Maple Valley, so that means when we do exchanges I'll see her. I'm staying in Maple Valley another transfer (mixed feelings) and my new companion is Sister Stewart! She trained my MTC companion, Sister McClellan, and I've met her. She's super solid. I hope she brings big changes to Maple Valley, cause the work is kinda slow right now! (In terms of finding new investigators.) So, huge changes ahead. I am nervous for a new comp, but ready to learn from a new perspective and new missionary. It'll be a positive change. But change is change and change is hard sometimes. But it's good. Ya know. 

So quick update on Bro Work. He is working through some stuff right now he needs to resolve before he can be baptized, but he still wants to! He is so immersed in the ward already, it's awesome. He stood at the door and helped greet and give out programs on Sunday. He goes to all 3 hours and reads the Book of Mormon and does all the homework we give him. He is doing all the things he should, he just has a little hiccup. But, we have high hopes for him. His daughter is on board. It's all up to Bro Work. Sometimes we find commandments we don't understand or see why we need to follow. In that case, faith needs to kick in and we just need to be obedient, trusting that God will bless us for our sacrifice and compliance to His laws. His ways are just. Anyway, we are working towards a date in April. Fingers crossed! 

We have a couple other investigators, but not too many. We really need more. However, we are doing service for Bishop's next door neighbor this week, who apparently Bishop has been trying to have over for the lessons forever. We just happened to start talking to her while she was doing yard work and she's super nice! We hope to be able to teach her in the close future. It was a miracle for us to get an appointment after Bishop trying for so long. But, sometimes things just work out at the right time and place. Her heart was ready this time! So cool. Little miracles like this happen all the time on the mission but I sometimes don't even realize they are little miracles til later and I go, "waaaiiittt...." Haha. God is so real. Believe in God. Believe that He is. (Mosiah 4:9)

I went on my FIRST exchange this week! I went over to Renton and was with Sister Bailey. I learned sooooo much! She is the personification of charity. She just loves everyone and beams in the work. It was such a good example for me! She talks to EVERYONE! Even people working on a roof that obviously can't really talk. She just emitted love and charity. It inspired me so much. Sometimes charity is hard for me, especially with people I've never even met before. But, from her example, I left beaming and carrying a little more charity with me than I had before. :) There's a picture of all 4 of us after the exchange was over! Sister Bailey is the blonde one. Sister Goodman is the other Sister Training Leader. She just went home!!! She was a great missionary. 

We had an amazing training this week about Personal/Comp Study. Basically, it revolved around the importance of the Book of Mormon. President and Sister Eaton exhorted us with all energy of heart to always, always, always read the Book of Mormon, every day, every day, every day. It is the #1 to stay on the path and the #1 way to fall away if you stop reading. It is the KEYSTONE! We just feast upon the words. The Book of Mormon is the manual to life. Everyone always says, "There's not an instruction manual to life, you just gotta figure it out." Meh. I don't buy it. The Book of Mormon is TOTALLY the instruction manual for life. It is the blueprint, the rule book, the advice book, the book that contains the secrets to salvation. The key to happiness! However, as King Benjamin tells us in Mosiah 4, after we believe all we do, we must ACT! The Book of Mormon tells us a lot of things, but the second it starts working in your life is when you WORK. When you ACT on what it says in there! Right now, I am working on acting on this scripture: 

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

This scripture. Is. Amazing. It's the essence of the gospel in one verse. I've been ponder submissiveness lately. And temperance. And self-mastery. It's all interrelated. And all made possible through the Atonement. Isn't it amazing to have a knowledge of this Infinite Atonement? That we can change our very natures? Change our bad habits? Become saints? I AM SO GRATEFUL! It, indeed, makes me want to scream, HALLELUJAH! 

SO here's some pictures. Our area is super rural. So, we run into animals and stuff all the time. Like this horse. :) 

WHILE I WAS ON EXCHANGE IN RENTON, we met this man named Willie who volunteers for a food bank and because of that brings home a TON OF EXTRA FOOD! And while he wasn't interested in the gospel, he gave us an ENTIRE BOX OF FRUIT! It was a HUGE tender mercy because we didn't have time to go shopping on P-Day so we have zero food. Oh my gosh. And you know how much I love fruits and veggies. I couldn't help but just smile and laugh about it. LOOK AT IT ALL! Thanks, Willie, random, kind stranger!! :D

So one last cool this is that Sister Loeak got her Young Women's In Excellence award/medallion for the FIRST TIME this weekend! She worked on it for a year on her mission and JUST FINISHED! It was way cool, Bishop presented it to her in Sacrament. She never did it because back home in the Marshall Island they just don't do Personal Progress cause they don't know how. It's not really translated into Marshallese. So now she is going to take what she has learned and done back home and help the Young Women there. SO COOL! I'm happy for her. :) She would ask me questions about my personal progress and man, I just  couldn't remember haha. It's been sooo long! 

ALSO: MOM! GUESS WHAT! I got asked to play violin in the next Missionary Devotional that's once a month! And guess what I get to play? Yup. Savior, Redeemer of My Soul. The same arrangement I played in Stake Conf years ago. YUP! I'm pretty pumped!!! That'll be April 17 or something like that. So excited! YAY! And since I'm staying in the same ward, I already have a violin I can borrow. I think I am also playing an Easter song this Sunday in Sacrament for Easter in the ward! Cool cool. I love being able to use my talents. 
Welp, here's to transfer #2 on my mission. That's just crazy! Transfers happen at 2pm today. Sad to see Sister Loeak go! But I'll see her around. This is her LAST transfer!

Take care,

Sister Eldridge
Also, here's some fun pictures from a service project on saturday! We worked on a baseball field in Kent. I love other missionaries!!!

Sister Juliann Marie Eldridge
Washington Federal Way Mission
23175 224th PI SE Ste E
Maple Valley, WA 98038
United States

HAPPY BDAY MOMMM! Week 6 update

FIRST OF ALL, HAPPY BDAY TO MY MOMMAHHHH! On Wednesday! I am glad you got my card! :) I love you!

Hi, everybody. This past week was a wayyy good one! Albeit, the work was slow, but I am doing much better emotionally and physically. I am feeling more adjusted! It's amazing how just a few days can make such a difference. 

We took Randy to the Family History Discovery Center and the Seattle Temple this week!!! Since he's on date to be baptized, we had permission to go (since it's out of our mission). It was SO COOL! The Discovery Center is super high tech and amazing. You're given an iPad when you walk in and you log into your family search account and then you connect the iPad to all sorts of different gadgets and things to tell you about your family history! So high tech! Apparently this is a pilot thing the church is doing, as this is the only Discovery Center outside of Salt Lake right now. It's SO cool! I attached some pictures from it! 

And I got to see the temple! Oh my gosh... The Seattle temple is just breathtaking. I just couldn't believe. Sooooo pretty. I wanted to go inside so bad! I hope I will get the opportunity to come do a session some time throughout my mission. It'll be up to the new mission president how often we go, but the missionaries already went for this year in January. There's some pictures from that, too!! Randy thought the temple was incredible, too. Just amazing. 

The work is pretty slow in Maple Valley, we haven't found any new investigators. We thought we had one that was totally willing to learn, but when we went to the appointment, he wasn't home. :( We are trying hard to work through members right now, too, as that is a huge part! There are some great potential referrals from members, but the work is still pretty slow there, too. Just can't give up. Actually, Sister Loeak and I have decided to "white wash" this area starting today. Meaning, we're just gonna clean up the area and knock on literally every single door in the entire area. Spring cleaning at its finest. Haha. We'll see how it goes! We'll start at one side of the map and make our way to the other. 

Some other news around here is they split our stake (Maple Valley) and created an entire new stake (Enumclaw). It's pretty historic! We had two members of the 70 at our stake conference Saturday and Sunday. Which was incredible. I received so much revelation at that conference. One of it being that doing the Lord's will is hard sometimes, but it's always better. We may have completely amazing and righteous desires that we are going after that are really good things to ask and pray for and work towards. We may feel really good about them, too! But, if the Lord has a different plan for us, He will divert our path (much to our dismay). He has something much better in mind. But, we don't always see it that way. We may see it as he is taking something away from us. We may be confused and think he withholding blessings from us. But, if we truly understand the nature and purpose of God (which is to make us happy and lead us on the path that leads to becoming like Him and return to Him), we know that He isn't withholding anything, but is leading us towards something even greater than we had in mind in the first place. This doesn't mean his path is easy. Not at all. But it's always, always better. It's for our eternal well-being and salvation. Think of it, He loves us enough to redirect us when necessary to ensure the greatest happiness for us. He sees the big picture. He is all knowing. We have but a small, short perspective. We are selfish, too, and want what we want! Perhaps the hardest thing to do in this life is to trust God completely and giving our life completely over to Him (for it is not our life to begin with, anyway). And when we find that his path his harder than the plan we thought we had, that's actually good. That means we're growing. And, you know what else? That's why we have the Savior. We have the enabling and healing power of the Atonement to carry us through the hard and every moment in between. And when we divert the path, the Atonement is the ticket back. It's really an amazing, perfect plan God has created for us. Eternal perspective is key. And, if we are bitter and think God took away blessings we were so close to having, He WILL repay us for the sacrifice and WILL grant us all blessings we desire. It's just in HIS timing. That's also hard. Trusting in God's timing. But, perhaps we just have a little more to learn before we're even ready for the blessings we so desire so much. Remember, He only does things that are for our good and that will make us happiest, if we will only just follow Him. :) 

Trust God. Trust Jesus Christ. He will carry you. The Atonement isn't just the light at the end of the tunnel, it's the light leading us through the tunnel. 

So something funny that happened yesterday was there was a huge wind storm that knocked the power out, but it came back up quickly because of the generator. However, when Sister Loeak and I went to go out to work, we couldn't leave because since the power went out, the electric gate for the property wouldn't open hahahah! The power outage messed it up and we were literally stuck. It was so funny, but frustrating too, because we had things to do! Eventually we just got a member to come get us for our dinner appointment, because we couldn't get ahold of anyone to figure out the gate, haha. It was just silly... :) 

The new Easter video is our for the church! It's soooo amazing! Make sure and watch it, but don't just watch it, SHARE IT! On facebook is easiest. It's at followhim.mormon.org. #Hallelujah! (Note: It's pretty cool that they're quoting the messiah for the holiday it was actually intended/written for. Haha. BUT BESIDES THE POINT.)

Oh, so quick update on Randy... Might need to push off his baptism because we have been in touch with his daughter and she can't make the 19th and she really wants to be there, so we are trying to make a date that works for everyone. Also, some interesting info has come to light. She emailed us and informed us that Randy actually has Alzheimer's and is concerned  whether or not Randy actually understand what he is doing and the decision he is making. We honestly didn't know! But to her, she can't seem to get a real reason from him why he wants to get baptized because he can't explain himself well. It's tricky. We know he has had such a change in his heart and has felt the spirit and knows the Book of Mormon is true, but he struggles with answering things because of his memory. Explaining this to his daughter is tough. But, the good new is she is SUPER supportive of him finding a new faith. She just wants to make sure he really knows what he's doing... Valid concern! She'll be speaking to bishop soon, too, to discuss it. We have done all we can from our end, so now we just pray a lot... Haha. Kinda a weird situation. Prayers, please! 

Mkay, well, til next week! 

-Sister Eldridge

PS: The group pic is my zone. Solid missionaries! However, my zone is different now since the stake split! This was the Maple Valley zone, but now I am in the Kent Zone. The other pic with all the papers is when Sister Loeak decided to go through ALL her old papers and throw them everywhere... HAHAHA! I couldn't help but take a picture. My comp is so funny.

juliann.eldridge@myldsmail.net

Sister Juliann Marie Eldridge
Washington Federal Way Mission
23175 224th PI SE Ste E
Maple Valley, WA 98038
United States

Miracles happen every day

Well, hey hey hey, everybody. Week 5 of this transfer is over and it was probably the hardest of my mission so far, but best week, too.

First of all, Randy is COMMITTED TO BE BAPTIZED! He made a date for himself! We said sometimes with investigators we make a date with them to work towards as a goal, not to force anything on him. In this gospel, you have to do stuff, ya know? Not just think about stuff. So anyway, we told him that and he surprised us, he goes, "How about April 2? My birthday? Wait no that's too far away..." And we were like...wait....WHAAT! Oh my goodness! So we said, "What about March 12 or 19?" And he said, "March 12." The EARLIER date! Haha! So awesome! Turns out it actually has to be March 19 because we have stake conf March 12 and so he'd have to wait a week to get the Holy Ghost in sacrament meeting so that's not so bueno, so we just pushed it a week. But, wow. The change that we have seen in him is amazing. He comes to church on his own. He even made comments in sunday school. And in priesthood meeting, he BORE HIS TESTIMONY on his own! Wow wow wow. He's doing all these things all on his own (becoming an agent). We are thrilled. He said with a twinkle in his eye he is excited to be baptized, but very nervous. There's still a lot he obviously don't know, but that's the thing, you don't have to know every single thing about the church to be baptized. It's a life time journey. As long as you are developing that faith in Christ, knowing that only through Him can you make it to the celestial kingdom (and baptism is the first step to that). Soooo yeah! Full steam ahead. We are going to take him to the Family History Discovery Center this week and walk around the Seattle Temple grounds!! You can do that once people have a baptismal date. We are going to get names of his own family he can take to the temple after he is baptized. So exciting, one step closer to being with his wife for all eternity, just like he wants. :) 

You never know what the Lord is doing to work with people... I tell ya. 

So that was the greatest part of the week. Other than that, the work is prettyyyy slow. Randy is basically the only person we are working with. We are striving to work with members to help them be revved up for missionary work, as well as helping them with the people they are working with. Tracting in Maple Valley is soooo hard. I'm super humbled, because I got exactly what I wanted: I came to a rural place with beauty all around, not a big city!!! But...that makes tracting so hard... Hahaha. Not a lot of places and it feels like every single door has been knocked on. But, I need to have faith in the knowledge that the Lord IS preparing people to receive us. Sometimes putting in the tracting time is hard, though, we don't always know where to go! We pray a lot. Prayer is so important... This is HIS work and we need to do it HIS way! 

I struggled a looooooot this week, though, emotionally/physically. I was sick most the week (weird stomach thingy, idk) and it really made the work hard because I just wanted to sleep. I felt so discouraged and didn't know if I could go on. I didn't know if I could muster up the emotional energy to go out and interact with people all day. We had a lot of adversity, too, just people rude to us and a lesson going down hill and super off topic (when a lesson just goes completely the wrong way digging into unnecessary deep doctrine, I call that "orbiting kolob"... ha ha... Our lesson thursday night definitely orbited kolob and was not effective at all), and just overall feeling overwhelmed. It makes me feel selfish when I am worrying about myself and my own issues, cause it takes away from the work. But, at the same time, you gotta take care of yourself, right? The notion of forgetting yourself and going to work is a lot more complicated than it initially sounds. But, I made a decision this week, to resist the urge to go fishing. I got super caught up with things at home and the past and all that and I was more focused on that than the work, and I figured out real quick that I can't do that. So, in referring to Jesus Christ calling his apostles when he asked them to drop their nets and follow, I will do the same and not look back. We know that a few of them did look back and went right back to their old life of fishing. But, Christ asked them to follow Him. So, on a mission, I have dropped my net and am following Him, but I must also resist the urge to go fishing, whatever my "fish" may be. It's soooo hard sacrificing your will to the Lord, especially when you're just physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. Resilience is not always the easiest. But, I know I must do it. And we all know that sacrifice is a part of living the gospel. We are asked to sacrifice all to follow Christ, to build up the church, to serve our fellow men. Essentially, we are asked to sacrifice our own will; the only sacrifice unique to ourselves that we can give to the Lord. It's just so stinkin' hard, isn't it?! But, dude, a mission is like the greatest thing I could be doing with my time! So of course I'd be willing to do anything for Him! It's just hard when you're tired. 

Ah, life. It's never going to be easy. But, hard things refine us. They help us become something. I was reading in my old Book of Mormon I brought (actually it's Jenna's copy) and it's the one I used up at school when I had a religion class at BYUI and in the margin I had written something my professor said, "We're not here just to do stuff, we're here to become something." That simple little statement reminded me of so much truth. We're sent to this earth to experience adversity, to give us a chance to choose the better part. We're here to become like the Savior, to prepare ourselves to become as Heavenly Father. It's not an easy process becoming as a god, though, is it? It's suuuuper hard. But we know why we are doing it and why it's hard. When we keep that in mind, we are more able to keep going and keep trying. But, hey, want to know the coolest part? Heavenly Father knew it would be hard, and that's why He sent the Savior. He is our constant support. We need not suppose that we are to do this whole life thing alone. We literally cannot. We NEED the Savior. Let me reiterate that. We NEED the Savior. It's not just a good idea, or something we can recommend a friend that they should try when they are having a bad day. No, the Savior's Atonement is essential for salvation. We cannot do it or make it without Him. To think we can do it on our own is selfish, because then we do not utilize the incredible gift we have been given. There is no other name under heaven whereby men can be saved. It is only through Him.

It's a blessing to be celebrating the Resurrection of Christ this Easter season. I think it's so cool that my mom was baptized around Easter, so symbolic. :) May we remember that because He lived again, so will we. Not only physically, but spiritually. What will you do differently this Easter season with that in mind? 

Take care, friends and fam. 

Love, 

Sister Eldridge

ps: forgot my camera cord! no pics. :(

Week 5??!

Hey, everyone.

It's blowing my mind that we're already starting the 5th week of this transfer. That means only 3 weeks left of the transfer...??? (There are 7 weeks in this transfer instead of the normal 6) It went so fast, yet so slow. I dunno, like I said, time is weird in the mission. My teacher in the MTC told me, "Don't try to figure out time in the mission...just...don't." Hahaha. I see what he means. 

Well, the work is slow in Maple Valley, yet progressing. We have found a few new potential investigators. One of them is named Dale and he is sooo prepared. We knocked on his door and he was happy to talk with us. He is struggling with overcoming an addiction and is very lonely and looking for GOOD people to be in his life. Well, hey, we're good people! We hope to be able to teach a lesson to him soon, as he was super receptive to everything. We called him Saturday night and felt impressed to invite him to church and he was so super excited to come and he expressed how he never really knows what to pray for, but knows he needs to pray. We ended up praying with him on the phone (I said the prayer) and I think it really helped him! He is so excited to start a new chapter in his life. Yet, sadly, he didn't come to church yesterday! I think he is feeling a little overwhelmed by everything, and he also canceled our lesson for Monday, but I don't think that's the end. He just needs time. But, I just feel so strongly that he needs the gospel right now! So, we will keep trying. Working with the agency of others is what sometimes makes missionary work tough.. But, we all have our agency, a gift from God, to know good from evil and truly choose to follow Jesus Christ. 

So about a week ago we met Joan and Gene and I don't remember if I mentioned them, but they are the nicest people, yet not super interested in the gospel. We visited them last night and chatted about their lives and stories they had. She has so many great grand children, it's amazing! I liked listening to them and we actually invited them to the ward's upcoming Easter event. Even though we don't get to really fit in anything about the gospel, I felt that it was important and worth getting to know these people. It was crazy, the last time we met them was the FIRST time we'd ever met them by knocking on their door by change. Now, they welcome us in and say we can stop by at any time (and even use the bathroom, haha, if we're in the neighborhood.. :)). I never would have thought I'd get to know people so well so quickly by just knocking on their door. Perhaps one day their hearts will be softened for a message. But, if anything, they are great people and we enjoy their hospitality. 

You meet so many people you never thought you would on a mission. You learn of so many peoples' stories and experiences. It's like opening a new book every time you knock on a door that is fruitful. My problem is never quite being sure what door to knock on! I want to badly to find those the Lord wants me to find, but sometimes aren't sure if I'm going the right places to find them. I guess I need to continue to learn the voice and language of the Spirit. 

Even if we aren't teaching a whole lot of people right now, I know I must be doing some sort of good. I know I must be leaving some sort of mark in all places I go and with all I interact with. Or, at least, I hope! We may never know the true, full extent of our effect on things and people. We may never know what touches peoples' hearts and minds. It may just be a smile, honestly. Who knows? All I know is I'm trying to remember that even if I don't see tangible progress, I still must be doing some sort of good.

Randy is slowly progressing, though there are still road blocks. Haha, the other day we wanted to share a lesson with him, but we didn't have another sister to come with us, so we literally taught him in the door way with the door open. We had chairs and everything! Albeit, it was cold and raining. But we got to teach him! We taught him about having Faith in Christ because we realized that none of this is going to go anywhere unless he understands truly what Christ did and can do in his life. We all need to have this relationship with Christ. He knows who Christ is, but hasn't truly developed a relationship. We think he wants to, though. Yet, he didn't believe me when I told him that we will be resurrected. Sometimes I forget that some of our most basic beliefs seem impossible to other people that didn't grow up in the gospel. Most people understand Easter, that Christ rose again, but do they really, truly comprehend that because of that, we will also rise again? Literally. We will be resurrected. Our bodies and our spirits will be reunited and in our bodies, we shall see God. And we will be perfected. Think of it! Everything that's wrong, all illness, any lost limb, will be restored. What an incredible gift! That's one of the things the Savior did for us (incredible to think that it's only one of the things, seeing as it's SO AMAZING ALREADY). Well, hopefully Randy's heart will be softened and he will come to truly believe and know all these things. Again, everyone has agency. We just help. We are guides. It is ultimately them that decides in the end. In other news, Randy came with us to serve in the Food Bank on Friday! That's what the pictures are from. So, yeah, that's Randy! 

Hope everyone is well at home! Spring is coming here so things are beginning to bloom. Apparently spring in Maple Valley is AMAAAZINNGGG. Like, everyone I talk to is so pumped for spring. Washington is pretty beautiful, it's true. It's starting to rain less, too. 

I gotta say, though, a mission is humbling in its difficulty. Being on a mission post-college degree has been hard for me because I've already learned SO MUCH and a lot of the things missionaries are learning all around me seem "obvious" to me. This makes me seem so proud and like I know everything, but I honestly don't want it to seem that way. I really don't. It's actually a struggle for me to figure out what mission life is for me because I am different than other missionaries I've met. I already understand a lot of the things that are revelatory events for other people. Yet, what's been interesting for me is not that I'm learning all these new things that I'd never considered, but that I'm adding to the things I've already learned. It's a different way of looking at the things I've already learned. Being "mature" is helpful for a mission, because, yeah, maturity and stuff (to put it  eloquently), but at the same time I see it as hindering because I am a firm believer in "ignorance is bliss". Haha. I can gauge what is going to happen in situations based on past experience, and because of that, I assume a lot of things I shouldn't. I assume I know how things are going to turn out because I have so many past experiences to draw from. That leads me to being a tad cynical and have a "know it all" attitude. I can't just be. I want to just be and let this experience happen and not hinder it by my "wisdom". Does any of that make sense?! I don't even know! More of the story: Sister Eldridge over-thinks everything. :) 

I guess what I'm wondering is, what will my mission be for me? I met a sister at choir a few weeks ago that said, "Everyone's mission is different and for them." I am curious to see what my mission will mean for me. What will I learn? What will change my life? I need to stop assuming I've learned it all, ahah! I'm ridiculous sometimes! It's ohh sooo humbling. 

 5 ¶Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)

This is a great reminder. For all of us! 

Never assume we know the outcome. The Lord's ways are not our ways. Not even close! 

May we all more fully trust the Lord's ways, for they are best.

Til next week!

Love,

Sister Eldridge

PS: If there's anything I really need prayers for, it's knowing how to talk to people in tracting/finding! Gah! Still a struggle! 

PSS: I got a violin to use from a member!!! It's legit! We took it to the park the other day to try to find investigators hahahah... I played on a trail under a tunnel where it echoed and we had pamphlets set out. Didn't yield any fruit, but hey, we tried!!! :) And now I have a violin! Yay! Okay, bye.

 

Food Bank!

 

 

Sometimes Washington is sunny...

...and when it's sunny, it's still raining, but when that happens, you see rainbows! Seriously, it's beautiful up here. I love it. When Heavenly Father decided where I needed to go on my mission, he totally kept in mind my love for the north, the mountains, and the greenery. So awesome.

Ya know, this week was really great. I'm really starting to get fully adjusted as things are becoming more routine. Wow, it's weird to say that things are already becoming "routine". We're already in week 4! And this past Saturday marked one month on my mission! One month, woaaahhhh. That's so weird. It feels like it's been an eternity, though, let me tell you... 

There were some pretty cool miracles this week. And when I say "miracles" I mean moments where you just know the Lord's hand is in charge and is leading and guiding this work. It seriously is not my work at all, it's the Lord's.

Something I've learned this week is how very subtle the still and small voice of the spirit can be, but also how stark and apparent it can be as well. I've been wanting to learn what it means to truly follow the spirit in everything that I do as a missionary and I think what I've felt from this past week is that the spirit, to me, is a gentle nudge in the right direction to lead me to action and in what to say. And it's my choice whether or not I follow it. But, when I do follow it, I see the beauty of the Lord's hand in all things. He is so in charge!

In following the spirit this week, we knocked on a very inspired door in which we found a sister that knew who we were as mormons! Because she's actually been less-active for about 7 years, but has no negative feelings towards the church. We became fast friends and she is a joy to talk to. She told us she stopped going since she moved here because she didn't really know anyone and that she didn't want to go without her husband because he's not a member and not super interested. Yet, she knows it's still all true and was so willing to listen and have a gospel conversation with us. She told us her husband lost both his parents recently and is really struggling because of it. The spirit made it immediately known the importance that it is that Beth re-kindle her testimony in the gospel so that she may share that with her husband. We are striving to be supportive to her in her efforts to return to church, following the spirit in what we should do and say. But, what's incredible is when we were tracting that night that we found her, we both looked at her door and listened to the spirit of whether or not we should really knock on it. I had a very peaceful feeling about it so we went up to the door and knocked. And then that's when we met her! It was an example of the subtle and gentle ways the spirit can lead and guide us. And now I ask myself, "Wow, what would have happened if we didn't knock?? We would have never met her!" Now I see that the Lord really is preparing us and we ought to listen to the spirit to guide us!

In contrast of the spirit being stark and apparent, we were tracting on the Cedar River Trail the other day and ran into two men that were quite anti-mormon, throwing at us statistics and research done and how DNA tests don't match up with the Book of Mormon people and this and that and everything, telling us we had been deceived and it was their intention on saving us and telling us how to be born again. They were quite urgent about it. We immediately realized that there was no worth in trying to convince or discuss anything with them, though we tried our best to testify of Christ and not fight with the Bible, as they were doing, throwing out this verse and that and how they really should be interpreted and whatnot. As I was standing there listening, and being full aware that the spirit was offended (these two men made the space feel very dark and loathsome), the spirit, however, as clear as day said to me, "This is a waste of time." And the spirit was right. While we were tied up with these two conspiring men, many families walked past us on the trial that we really would have liked to talk to. Yet, our precious time and opportunity was wasted. It was frustrating. When we finally broke away from these men, the spirit had left, and we lost all ability to talk to anyone else on the trail. It really showed me how important the spirit is so that we may not be confounded. It also showed how the spirit will immediately let you know when something is not true. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi tells us that he delights in plainness and speaks to us in plainness about the Gospel. Because, the gospel IS plain and simple, even so much that a child can understand. And, these two men were doing quite the opposite, throwing at us complicated intricacies of doctrine and, basically, were making claims based on man's knowledge and wit. It was like a real life Book of Mormon experience where the priests throw out their wisdom trying to find fault in the church. Crazy. But, all I know, is what I felt from the spirit. The spirit knows truth. If you are searching for truth, seek first for the Holy Ghost and understand it's role and power in your life. Then, truth will be made known to you, because you know how to recognize it. The Holy Ghost never lies, because God never lies. Everything good is of God. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance." (Galatians 5:22-23) If you're feeling any of those things, it's of the Spirit, which is from God. :)

Something reaaaaaally cool that happened this week is with our investigator Randy. We have been trying to help him understand that the way for him to be able to be with his wife again is through following Christ and being baptized, then going to the temple to be sealed to her for all of time and eternity. But, he is still hardening his heart and not accepting the truth all around him, or even the answers he is receiving. I'm not sure he really realizes he's gotten answers, though. We tell him we know his wife is in the spirit world waiting, but he just always says, "Well, I hope..." not really believing us. But, anyway, something cool that happened the other night in a lesson with him was we were discussing his same concern he always has, that he can't really be sure that there is just one church, because how can one church be "better" than another (in his words)? Well, during this discussion, Sister Loeak, who, by nature, is not a touchy-feely, emotional person, suddenly said, "Randy, I feel impressed to tell you something." The room went silent and we all stared at her waiting to know what she had to say. It took her a moment, and she had started to sob. Then, full of the spirit of God (for the influence was very strong), she says, "Randy, I feel impressed to tell you that your wife has accepted the gospel and is waiting for you." It was incredible. The spirit flowed in like crazy. And I knew she was right, because I had been having the same impressions, too, that his wife was VERY near and involved in this process. Randy didn't say much, but I know he had to have felt something... We just hope it touched his heart in some way. That night, after we were home, I had prayed for something oddly specific for Randy... I prayed that his wife would come to him in a dream. As a companionship, we prayed that his wife would help us, because Randy is a hard person to reach sometimes. The next day, as Randy sat with us at church (this is his third week in a row to go to church!), he told Sister Loeak something incredible... He said he had a dream with his wife last night!!! Whaaaaaaaat! I was stunned. When she asked what happened, he just said that they were together in the dream and he didn't remember much else. BUT WOAH HOW INCREDIBLE IS THAT?? She is sooo involved! Sometimes, when Randy is harping over the same concerns each lesson, I can almost feel his wife saying, "Oh, Randy, you're so stubborn." Hahaha. She's waiting for him! 

We hope to continue to help Randy realize the truth right in front of him. He said he'll know when he feels it. I wonder when he will realize that he has felt it. Yet, we all have our agency, and it is ultimately his choice. We are just his guides and helpers. But, we are definitely keeping close with the spirit to know how to reach him. 

Life is good as a missionary. You meet a lot of good people. You can learn something from every single person you talk to, if you're listening with love and with the spirit. Every moment of the day is an opportunity to learn and grow from something and someone around you, to progress in some sort of way. And that's why repentance is so important! Because it's what allows us to continue to progress in every moment. Sin stunts our growth and stops us from progressing. Repentance re-positions us and allows us to continue forward. So often we see the word "repentance" as a negative thing. But, it's the most joyous gift the Lord has given us in this mortal life. If we didn't have to repent, what would the Savior be for? There would be no Atonement. And then there'd be no us. Adam fell that man might be, and men are, that they might have joy. So allow yourself to repent (turn your heart back to God), and have joy! 

Yesterday I attended my first missionary fireside that the mission holds once a month. We had two investigators there, including Randy. It was SO COOL hearing peoples' conversion stories. I sang in the choir, too, and loved that. I told the choir director I play violin and wanted to maybe do something next time because this time there was someone playing violin too and she was like a little skeptical because sometimes people are sketchy in their violin skills, if you catch my drift, but then I was like "yeah so I have a degree and stuff" and she's like OOOHHHH MY GOSH WHY DIDN'T A KNOWW AHHH WE WILL TOTALLY USE YOU NEXT TIME! I laughed really hard inside hahahahaaaa. So hopefully I'll find a violin and play soon. :) But, yeah, the fireside was AMAZINGG. The church is true, ya'll.

Sorry, no pictures this week. Maybe next week! 

Hope all is well in all the places you are all in! Thanks for all the support. You are all on my mind a lot! 

Love, Sister Eldridge

PS: The Book of Mormon is important and if you're not reading it every day start doing it. It WILL change your life.

Week 2 in the books

Hey hey, family!

I'm writing a day late this week because yesterday was President's Day, so all the libraries were closed. So a Tuesday P-Day it is! It'll be back to normal next week, though. 

Where to even start... This past week was really good and really hard. You grow and learn at such a fast rate that I feel like I'm having growing pains. If that makes sense. All the growth is good! But, man, the refiner's fire is hot. Scolding. I've been quickly learning that I have to let go of my own desires on this mission. I can't not do things because I just simply don't want to (like talking to people). I can't just take naps when I'm not feeling up to things. I can't "skip class" like in college and take an hour off and hide in a practice room (NOT THAT I EVER DID THAT...). Bottom line, is you have to be ready to work. I find myself constantly praying all day every day in trying to keep going, but it does get easier, I've found. 

This past week, I attended my first Zone Conference and it was soooo good! President and Sister Eaton are so wise and awesome. The theme of the conference was "Agents, Not Objects." Meaning, we need to treat our investigators as agents, not objects. We are to not just teach, but help others discover the gospel and act on the message, not just take the message in. Sometimes we get into the mindset that there is only one way to teach, and one way only. To talk at people. But, as I was reminded and taught at zone conf, we are to help other act and discover the message. Granted, sometimes it's fine to just talk and explain, but interaction is much more meaningful. We were taught Elder Bednar's forumla for teaching/learning: 1. Prepare to learn, 2. Interact to edify, and 3. Invite to act! Also, a great quote by Elder Jay Jenson: "Learn to put more of the burden of your learning on the student. You assume too much of it. Shift it." SO GOOD! Everything we learned in the zone conference was everything I was taught as an education major at BYU-I! President Eaton used to work at BYU-I as a professor so he talks about the learning model and such from BYU-I and I was so happy because it's something I'm used to and know all about! What I've realized about myself is that I understand how to do things and have great ideas, but when the time comes to actually do them, I forget and get nervous. But, I just need to keep practicing. Something else President encouraged us to do is to ask inspired questions that help people open up and talk about themselves, as well as helping them know that we are interested in them and their lives. It's straying away from the simple yes and no questions and really wanting to know what people think by asking things such as "What can we learn from _______?", "Why is _________ so important?", or, "What do you wish you knew before _____?" A question I came up with is, "Why do you do what you do because of what you know?" Cool stuff! And, of course, in all things, be in tune with the spirit. It's the real teacher. 

SOOO, a cool thing they do at zone conference is they check people's cars to see how clean they are (as well as general maintenance) and who ever has the cleanest car gets the GOLD PLATES!

 Haha, so if you win, you get a gold license plate cover that says "GOLD PLATES" and you have it on your car until the next conference. WELLLL, GUESS WHO WON THE GOLD PLATES??? That's right. Sister Loeak and I! We worked suuper hard at cleaning our car! SO AWESOME. It'll be on the car til about May or something, haha! I forgot to get a picture. I will for next week. But, we feel pretty awesome having the gold plates. :) 

So things are interesting with investigator's right now... Randy agreed to be baptized on March 5 if he gets his answer by then! We have high hopes. He is still unsure, but learning and growing each time we teach him. He has come to church 2 weeks in a row! Even this past Sunday where we had a Regional Conference broadcast from Salt Lake! WHICH WAS SOO GOOD! C. Scott Grow, Bonnie L. Oscarson, James J. Hamula, and Dale G. Runland spoke. We basically had our own personal general conference. It reached us, Orgeon, Alaska, part of Canada, and I think the San Fran area..? Pretty cool. Most of the messages were about standing up for our beliefs, being firm in our faith, and sharing the gospel. Dale G. Runland shared a great insight for when people ask us why we, as Latter-Day Saints, do things, such as not drinking coffee or wine or why we don't do things on Sunday, etc. Anything. He said, instead of just bringing up things such as "oh health benefits.." or "it's a family day.." or what have you, he inspired us to do what his wife does. When his wife was asked once why they don't drink coffee, she said, "Let me give you the short version! In 1820, a 14 year old boy knelt in a grove and prayed..." and then she goes on to share the entire restoration (quickly), and finishes with telling them that everything we do is because of revelation! Because we have a living prophet that receives revelation from God. That's why we do what we do. We can go around and around about health benefits (basically, man's reasoning), or we can just be straight forward and say, "Well, in 1820 a 14 year old boy...", ending it with revelation. :) Really cool! You should try it the next time someone asks you why you do what you do because you're Mormon. 

Anyway, Randy. He has met a LOT of members and is really being fellowshipped and it's great. We are teaching him tonight in Bishop's home. We're going to teach him about the Atonement! Why we need (NEED) it and what it really means to us and the entire history of eternity. He understands the concept of Jesus Christ, but we don't think he really comprehends what He is to us. We hope to help change that tonight. We have also helped him a lot with his family history! Family History is so important... Our ancestors are waiting! 

We have been struggling with finding people to teach, as Maple Valley is a large, spread out place, but we found a NEW neighborhood that Sister Loeak says she's never really been to (she's been here for like 5 months or something). I had a REALLY good feeling about it and for good reason, because we found 2 people and they both gave us return appointments. One of them is named John and he's a 92 year old war veteran. Very very nice! He wanted to let us in, but he was home alone so we couldn't (the rule is we have to have an extra sister when we teach single males). He told us his wife is in a nursing home. I reckoned he had a lot of really great stories and I said to him, "I bet you have a lot of great stories, I'd love to hear some soon!" and he said, "My motto used to be, 'you don't get away without a story'"! Haha! Love it. I told him we'd love to hear his stories if he'd be willing to listen to a message. :) We teach him Wednesday. The other person we met is named Cathryn and she's probably in her 60s and has rad long, blonde hair. She said she doesn't believe in organized religion, but was SO friendly and agreed to have us come. She even gave US her number. We left her with a prayer and she's so funny and spunky, she ran up and grabbed our hands and wanted to pray holding hands. So we did. It was cool! We hope to see her soon. Those two were huge miracles and blessings because I've REALLY been struggling with tracting. I have been having a lot of anxiety about talking to people, but I've been trying to just get over myself and do the Lord's work. I found a scripture in D&C 60:2-3 that was, like, the perfect chastisement I needed, 

 

2  But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them.

3  And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have.

BAMMM. When I read that, I was like, "Yup. Okay. Got it. I'll stop being selfish now." Those verses seriously helped so much. Yet, at the same time, I think it's also that we were in the right place to tract that day! The Lord placed us there. So, it was honestly easier to open my mouth. The words just came. I just need to have more faith and stop fearing man. Because, man can do nothing. God is greater than all. I also thought of the scripture D&C 122:8, "The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" Are my afflictions really greater than the Lord's? Honestly? Just because I'm afraid to talk to people? Come on, Sister Eldridge, get a grip! It's a process, though. I'll get better each day. 

Today, I went to missionary choir for the upcoming missionary fireside this weekend. It was wayyy cool and I'm happy to be around music. :) There was someone playing violin and I was like ahhh I want to play, too! So I talked to the director and told her I'd be willing to play and she was THRILLED to find out I have an actual degree, haha. So I'll be playing at a future fireside. I'm so glad I get to share my talents. Actually, I got a violin that was in the mission office, but it turns out it's too small. It's weird, it looks like a full size, but the neck is too short so it's awkward to play. But, I'll hopefully find another violin. Still not sure if I want mine sent up here. Maybe. I'm thinking about it. I dunno, it makes me nervous. We'll see. 

I'm not sure what else to say. I'm learning. I'm growing. I'm being as obedient as I can. Except, hahaha, yesterday, Sister Loeak thought she set the alarm, but she didn't and we woke up an hour and a half late to the phone alarm that goes off to prep us for morning study and we were like, "WAIT WHAT! NO WAY NOOO!" Hahahaha! It was sooo funny.. We felt bad, of course, but it honestly wasn't our fault. Don't worry, today we got up on time! :) Things happen. Hahaha. We just laugh about it, though. We're super obedient otherwise, though. 

Maple Valley is treating me well. The members here are amazing. We visited a few yesterday and one of them let me play their baby grande piano. Yeaaahhh. It made me happy. 

When reading your scriptures, liken them to yourself. No, really. Think about how you can apply what it's teaching to yourself. And if you're in the war chapters, look at general themes. Like what happens when people heed the Lord in their battles and those who don't. Stuff like that. 

Well, until next week. 

Love, 

Sister Eldridge

PS: I BOUGHT STAR WARS GUMMIES. And, yes, I brought that Darth Vader from home...

Also, my mission sweatshirt from the MTC came in the mail! I love it! It says "Federal Way Mission 2016-2017"

And my goofy companion!