Thank you for the prayers!

Dear everyone,

I can honestly say that this week was INFINITELY better than last week. It was a miracle that I recovered as quickly as I did. I know, without any doubt, that all the prayers in my behalf gave me the strength that I needed to recover and keep going in the work. I had a relatively normal week this week, with strength to do the normal missionary things. It was a miracle! 

RANDY WAS BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY! And it was an amazing baptism. We had 4 other sets of missionaries there and 54 people came, including Randy's daughter and 2 grandsons. Just an amazing service. I played a little violin number with the daughter of our ward mission leader! And, PRESIDENT AND SISTER EATON CAME! We had no idea they were coming. It was way cool. He spoke, too! The original missionaries that found Randy came, too. Sister Loeak spoke about the Holy Ghost and Sister Davis (and her comp, Sister Parsons) did the presentation about the Restoration. It was amazing having them there! Randy was the miracle door for Sister Loeak and Davis... They were about the give up, but then thought they would knock on one last door... And that door was Randy's! And now he is baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The ward is SO amazing here and so welcoming. He was already pretty much a member before he was baptized, it seemed. :) I attached the picture of us all. Bishop is to my left and he baptized Randy. The spirit was SO strong at this baptism. Members of the ward were still talking about it the next day at church. Such a blessed experience to be a part of it. 

What's also really cool is Beth, the less-active we tracted into in February, whom we LOOOVE, came with us to the very last lesson before Randy's baptism, which happened to be about baptism and confirmation. It was so amazing, because she said it rekindled her own feelings of her baptism 8 years ago or so (YES). And, what's even more amazing, is now she wants us to meet with her husband (nonmember) and we have dinner with them TONIGHT! Gosh, miracles happen. All. The. Time. Are you looking for them? If you are in tune with the Holy Ghost, you will recognize the little miracles every day. :) 

We had exchanges this week and it was the best exchange ever because I got to be with my old comp/trainer, Sister Loeak!! She came back to Maple Valley for it and it was honestly the best. It felt so NORMAL, like she had never left! We had such a blast working together again and it felt weird that we weren't actually companions anymore. I will miss her so much! I said goodbye to her for the last time last night at the Missionary Devotional. She goes home in 2 weeks to go back to the Marshall Islands. I'll always remember my crazy Marshallese trainer! But, yeah, the Missionary Devo was last night and it was amazing. Playing the violin went really really well and I know Heavenly Father blessed me to play well because I did NOT have enough time to really practice! OUR INVESTIGATOR CAME! Stormi came by a miracle! She wasn't sure if she was going to be able to, but we prayed all day, and she came! She LOVED it, and got to meet the YSA Sister Missionaries that will probably be starting to teach her soon. Sad, but we know it's the right thing to do. We will still be a light in her life, though! 

We are looking for new people to teach now that our investigator got baptized. Russell, our golden investigator, dropped off the face of the earth and we have no idea what happened... We are referring stormi... Haha. No one to teach, really! But, we have a lot lot lot of potentials. Just need to keep working and keep praying. Things are happening, though. Like the dinner tonight! 

So earlier today, we went to the Roxstrums, and awesome old farming couple in the ward that WE LOOOOVE (and teach once a week). The animcal science class at the high school had a field trip to see Bro Roxstrums calfs and we wanted to go! So we did! And... welp. I just saw a calf get castrated. Hahahah. Yup! That happened! All my years in Texas and Idaho and I've never seen that happen until now, on my mission. Always an adventure here in Maple Valley. :) It was kinda gross... but my comp, Sister Stewart, who is a farm girl through and through, and has done it tons of times on her farm back home, thought it was totally normal... :) Haha. I ask her lots of animal questions. She knows everything, I swear. 

Ah, man. It feels so good to be feeling better. I still struggle with finding, but things are slowly, but surely, getting back to normal. I'm, again, SO grateful to all the prayers that went out for me and are going out for me on a daily basis! I can't do it without them and without the Lord... Thank you so, so much. I love you all! 

Love,
Sister Eldridge

PS:

Randy's Baptism picture! That's his daughter and 2 grandsons in the picture! 

I don't know if you can see that sign...but we thought it was funny. :)

Our group at the devotional :) We see the two sisters on the left, Sisters Erickson and Herlin, every week because they are in our District and they come to the food bank every friday, too. They are over the YSA!

ANNNDDDD...last but not least...Sister Stewart and I were soo warm in our apt last night... we just, like... you know... pulled our skirts up really high... real classy...

 

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

 

The Savior is Real

I have been contemplating how I should write this week's letter. A lot went on and I didn't know how much I really wanted to include. But, I want to be honest with all of you; this week was extremely, extremely, extremely difficult.

After emailing on P-Day, I didn't feel very well. I was super homesick and overly sad, and I didn't really know why. I took a little quiz thing online that we are to take as missionaries that basically checks where we are emotionally and our stress level. And when I did that, I was in the red zone (that's bad). I didn't really know I was stressed until I took the quiz. My companion looked over at my screen and was all, "Uhhh...??? What?" I was kind of as surprised as she was. But, when I really thought about how I was feeling, I was in the red zone. I felt stressed, but I didn't totally realize it. 

We went home, and I only got worse. I don't know how. I just did. I got super sad. Eventually, my companion pulled out a sheet that describes what the symptoms of depression are. And, well. I matched every single one of 'em. 

I didn't really suppose it was real. I knew I got sad every now and again, but I thought that being debilitated in your bed once a month was just normal, right? Mmmm. I suppose not. I got progressively worse as the day went on. Eventually to the point that I couldn't even get up off the couch. Finally, my wise companion, texted the mission president's wife, Sister Eaton. She explained what was going on and asked for permission to stay in for the evening because I was in no state to go out. I felt so bewildered and confused about my state. And frustrated. And upset. What was happening to me? Why? But I was just sad. So sad I couldn't really move. 

Eventually Sister Eaton asked me if I wanted to get a blessing. I said sure, but honestly didn't have the strength to go anywhere to get one. But, then, a few minutes later, Sister Eaton texted back and said that her and President were coming over to give me one. WHAT. I semi-freaked out and felt so embarrassed at how not-okay I was. 

President showed up with his wife and they were so kind. He didn't ask me any questions. He just saw my violin case and told me to play. It was kind of incredible, because leading up to that, I had my violin in my hand the entire day on the couch, plucking out hymns and trying to find comfort. The fact that he pointed at the exact thing that was bringing me comfort all day was kind of miraculous and totally inspired. I pulled it out and he sang while I played the violin part to Savior Redeemer of My Soul. It was kind of awesome. Then, he told me to feel no guilt, because I felt guilty for not being able to work. He said, "Would this be any different if you had gotten in a car accident and you couldn't walk?" He made a point. And he repeated that I should feel no guilt. The blessing he gave me was beautiful and comforting. I still couldn't believe, though, that the mission president had come specially to my apartment just to give me a blessing... He cares about his missionaries, that is for darn sure. 

Sister Eaton informed me that I had a doctor's appointment set for Thursday. I just had to make it to Thursday.. but in the state I was in, I did not do a very good job of that. I hardly got up in the morning. I felt sick all the time and exhausted and fatigued. I had no energy, no drive, and I lost all desire. I didn't even know why I was even there anymore. And I didn't care. I just wanted to feel better already. I had approached what felt like the ultimate depths of despair and darkness with little hope of climbing my way out. I just wanted to come home so I could be better. I just wanted to be better. I couldn't work properly for a good, solid, 3 days. I tried going to a few lessons, but I felt dead and emotionless. It was miserable. Finally, my doctor appointment came, and I cried in it and it was no fun, but I found the help I needed. 

Not doing missionary work on a mission is the hardest thing ever. You feel so, so useless and bad. But, I had literally no energy to even keep my eyes open. I'd try to get up for studies, and would make it to the other room, but then fall asleep for the 2 hours studies went on. It was brutal. Depression is a real thing and it is hard. And having it as a missionary? Absolutely impossible. 

Slowly, but surely, I started to feel a little better. We took it slow. I had an extremely patient companion that helped me through it all. She was seriously sooo patient with me when I couldn't work. I am glad she helped me get help, or I would have never gotten it. We're slowly getting back into the normal schedule. I'm not 100% yet, but I'm not 0% anymore like I was. I am very proud of getting up in the morning. I am proud I exercised today. I am proud I made it to choir practice and the library. Little steps. Trying not to run faster than I have strength.

I wanted to write you all this week and tell you about all the amazing experiences I had, but this is real life. It was difficult. But, what I learned is my absolutely, desperate need to rely on the Savior. I cannot do this alone. Not even a little bit. None of us can do this life alone, no matter our strength, no matter our grit. In the end, our own devices will fail, and when they do, to what source do we look for the strength we need to keep going when we no longer have the strength? The Savior. That's why He's there. He's there for this. And all trials, infirmities, and hard days. I felt the redemptive powers of the Atonement during Sacrament meeting yesterday as I took the bread and the water. I could literally feel my spirit lifting and being fed. It's not that I felt completely happy again or that my depression was magically gone. But, I was being lifted and the burden of it all was being lightened. My spirit was growing in strength. It was incredible. I haven't felt as spiritually filled as I had in this Sacrament meeting in a very long time. 

This is a testament of the power of the Atonement. It literally grabbed me from the jaws of hell and brought me back out. I feel strength to keep going. I feel the enabling power of the Savior with me every second. There's no other way I could ever have gotten through it the way I did, along with the help of the doctor. 

Reading Elder Holland's talk, "Like A Broken Vessel", helped a lot this week. My comp happened to have a copy of it handy. That talk is near and dear to me. 

When I did finally get to go do a little missionary work (taking lots of breaks in between so I wouldn't burst into tears or anything), some great things did happen. Russell is a progressing investigator now and came to church on Sunday. We prepped Randy for his Baptismal interview and helped him decide who's going to Baptize him. We are teaching another girl named Stormi and she has honestly become one of our best friends. It's a testament that even if a missionary is sick, the work will still go forth. Having 2 investigators at church (Russell and Randy) was so cool. So yeah, Randy's Baptism is Saturday! Sister Loeak is coming back for it and speaking at it, too. :)

I am so grateful for the support that I have been shown this week while I struggled. Everyone rallied around me and helped as much as they could. I know there have been so many prayers in my behalf and I could not be more grateful. I so grateful to be in a mission that is so caring and helpful. The members of the ward, too, are so amazing. They noticed since I was unable to attend normal meetings and lessons. The Bishop here is so great; him and his wife said they prayed for me, too. I am grateful to be in a church that lives up to their baptismal covenant to bear one another's burdens so they may be light, mourn with those that mourn, and comforts those in need of comfort (Mosiah 18). I have been the recipient of all those things this week. 

I am slowly returning to myself again. I'm getting better each and every hour. I will eventually be back in full swing, too. Like I said, I got up this morning! Awesome! I have been sufficiently humbled this week. I will now more fully rely on the Lord and not my own strength. I know understand and know that missions are hard and I shouldn't think otherwise (I thought perhaps that I'd be able to beat the "hard" part of my mission because I'm "old" and "so experienced.". Pffft). It's hard, yes, but it is also the best thing for my life. My wise younger sister, Elizabeth, when I told her I almost went home said to me that a mission is the best place for me to learn all these hard lessons (like dealing with depression) and I asked her why she thought that and she wisely responded, "...You get to learn how to deal with it under the best and worst circumstances. Probably no other time in your life will be as trying as a mission and if you can deal with it now, you're golden. And as a missionary you're living so in line with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that you're who you need to be to get the administration from them that'll best help you." 

She is so right. I don't know about other 20-year-olds, but Elizabeth wins the prize for wiser beyond her years. Seriously. 

Here's to a new week, full of dependence on the Savior. I can do this. He's definitely going to be carrying me through the entire thing. 

Thank you for all the support. I hope this didn't bring you sadness for me, for that's not what I intended. Know that in this moment, I am okay and am on the up. I will be okay. I am going to stick this out to the end. Cause, when my mind is able to actually work properly, I am a pretty determined person. My motto, after all, is "fall down 10x, get up 11." I might fall a lot more, but at least when I got up this time, I let someone help me up and I took a hand to stand again. Getting help is hard when you're prideful, but this time, I'm glad I got help. 

The Savior is there for everything! He lives and He's there to help you, too. 

Love you all,

Sister Eldridge

ps: SO COOL THAT WE HAVE A BAPTISM ON SATURDAY! GO RANDY! Also, he just turned 76. Hee hee. 

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

The week of buff legs

Soooooooooo, hi! This week was kind of insane! In an insanely good way! I don't think I've seen so many miracles in such a concentrated amount of time in my life ever. It was crazy.

Sister Stewart and I were PUT TO THE TEST OF OBEDIENCE this week, as we were basically out of miles for the month (due to the fact this car took an hour trip to Graham a few weeks ago...) and in an attempt to save as many miles as we would...we biked. Yup. On Wednesday, we decided biking was the only way we could save the amount of miles we needed for our most important appointments in the next few days. So we saddled up, and went forth. Now, let me just tell you, there is a REASON Maple Valley is NOT a biking area. It's huge. It's rural. Everything is spread out. It's not logical to bike here, like, at all. But, we did what we had to do! And it was amazing to see the result...A few days prior, President Eaton had invited us to get out on our bikes as much as we could because it was going to be sunny, and by doing so, we'd stop and talk to more people that we normally would not talk to. And, that's exactly what we did Wednesday. We dubbed the day "DAY OF BUFF LEGS" in our planners, pfft. We started at stopping at the mission office (which is conveniently in our area, woo) to drop something off and Elder Young, one of the office workers, was so stunned that the Cedar River Sisters were on...bikes?!? He was so amazed that he took a picture of us in our helmets, ha ha! So funny. He was impressed that we'd go to such measures to save miles and not go over for the month. We do what we gotta do. And thus started our long trek. I tell ya, we probably went 15+ miles on our little Huffy bikes that day. Walking up BIIIIG hills and riding down the hills, too! Everywhere we went, we saw miracles. Talking to the right member to learn things about previous investigators, running in to the right people, getting referrals, getting a GOLDEN POTENTIAL that we would have NOT seen unless we were on bikes, catching a girl in her car who happened to exactly be on her lunch break when we rolled up, etc etc etc! Basically, the entire day was being in the right place at the right time. And a miracle happened at the end of the day too, when a member was graceful enough to drive us and our bikes home, AND come to our evening appointment with us, thus not using a single mile on our car that day. It. Was. Incredible. We couldn't believe how blessed we were that day -- and HOW EXHAUSTED! It really did us in. But, man was it cool. We felt like "real" missionaries that day, ha! Biking in skirts all day...yeaaaaaaah. It's real classy. We were totally protected that day, too. We didn't get hit by any cars... Haha. The Lord looks out for us! All of us. We ended up biking a little bit the next day, too, after we got a ride to the stake center for interviews with President. Luckily, President showed me a rad trail we could ride home that was way safer than the road. It was awesome! We saved so many miles! AND AT THE END OF THE MONTH: We had 5 miles to spare. :) Nailed it! Exact obedience!  

Some other EXCITING news... Randy is getting baptized April 16th! We finally got a date that works for all his family to come. FINALLY! He is well on his way to baptism and we are thrilled. He watched conference with us yesterday and he loved it. We have been focusing on Prophets and that there's a living Prophet today, so it was so cool for him to actually see President Monson.

We have a new investigator, too, named Russell! He is so solid and prepared... We had an AMAZING first lesson last Tuesday and we can't wait for the next. He was holding the Book of Mormon in his hand and he asked us, "So, did Christ ever come to America?" ...WELL AS A MATTER OF FACT. Hahaha. Sooooo prepared! We have another lesson with him tomorrow. So stoked. 

SO YEAH GENERAL CONFERENCE, THOUGH. It was incredible. Innnncredddibbllleeee. I'm so grateful for it and I'm always sad when it's over. Some of my favorites were, of course, Bednar's and Holland's. And the Prophet, wow. He is hanging in there. I am grateful for his counsel! Choices do determine destiny. May we all identify the choices we are making and where they are leading us and what they are leading us to do. I hope President Monson is okay. I asked all the Elders sitting behind us if they think he's going to make it to next conference...they were not too positive in their response. Ahhh. :( But, he has done an incredible work. He is the true, living Prophet in this earth! 

Also, I was SOOOO PUMPED to see the BYU-Idaho choir in Saturday afternoon!!!! I was freaking out. I saw soo many friends! I totally took at class from Sister Ashby, the director. I made a list of all the people I knew on the screen. :) Gosh, it made me MEGA homesick, though! Like, man! It's not a normal thing to see 15 of your friends on the screen! Haha! It was tough to pull my mind back to the work after that, but the rest of Conf helped, of course. Can't wait to go back and read them. 

After biking all week, Sister Stewart and I were sooo dead tired. The end of the week sizzled down in the amount of miracles we saw, but we know the Lord is still mindful and the work is going forth, even when we're not on fire in the work 100% of the time. Last night was tough and we felt like we weren't making huge progress, but as we were walking back to the car, feeling kind of solemn, we happened to run right into a member! She greeted us warmly and was so kind. It was a little tender mercy, showing us that the Lord is looking out for us. It's so cool when you just run into the right people as a missionary. Stuff like this doesn't just happen. :) 

Well, I hope that this week brings more miracles. Mostly, I hope to be able to focus this week. I get into ruts from time to time where I find it hard to focus on my purpose. Mission life is good, but it's difficult. Not gonna lie. But, that's pretty common knowledge. Missions are hard. 

May we all hold fast to the counsel we received in conference. Now more than ever before it is VITAL for us to follow the prophet, his apostles, and all the Lord's servants. The world is rampant, but we have the protection. 

Love,

Sister E

PS:We had a picnic on the grass with Randy and the other sisters in between conference sessions yesterday. SO SUNNY! (I don't know what's going on with my hair, like, ever...) 

Also, at the trail the other day, I found a staff...and I called it my Gandalf staff. :) I keep it in a certain place at the trail for me to go and find every time we're there, ha!! 

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. :(