Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Conference, Cops, Cowboys, Crabs

I loved General Conference.  I loved the Spirit that it brought, and I loved the opportunity to sustain the leaders of the Church.
I am going to just go through the week, because there were so many great things that happened and I really don't want to miss any of them.
We need to go back in time a little bit.
Sunday September 20 Mom you might not want to read this day...
Sister T2 and I were coming home, and then all of a sudden there were so many bright lights all around.  We continued driving, and there were more and more lights all around.  I was like who's bright lights are these!!! Who thinks that they are being cool?  Then we get inside, and we are looking outside and see there are more lights in the alley behind our house.  I was like oh my goodness!  THEN we see that they are in the backyard of our neighbor.  So we called him, and he told us that there were some break-ins in the neighborhood, and they are just looking around.  Sister T2 was freaking out.  I was laughing, cause I didn't think that anything bad was going to happen to us.  She wanted to check the house so I let her check it.  As she was walking down the hall, I told her I was going to scare her.  I think that she thought I was kidding.  I wasn't.  I literally walked up behind her, and said AHHH!  I think that the neighbors probably thought that we were getting murdered.  I got her so good!!! And then she continued searching the house.  Our house was pretty well lit once the helicopter started circling our house.  That was fun.  3 hours later, they decided to give up their search I guess.  So that was a pretty good night.  We aren't sure if they found them, but we did find out that the person living across from us was homeless, and really wasn't supposed to be living in the house that they were living in.

Monday September 28
We were able to eat cafe rio for dinner.  Well not real Cafe Rio, but homemade.  It was so GOOD! The family was not in the best mood, and I realized how awkward it is to have people at the house, and someone is in a bad mood.  One of their daughters were mad, and it made me think about how many times people were in our house and I was in a bad mood and I am sure that it was really awkward for those that were there.  I am so sorry for those that had to witness those moments when I was a "child".  We also were able to do family home evening with the H Family.  I am so grateful for the times that we had FHE as a family.  Their daughter Brie was in charge of doing the game.  She made up some game, and it was really hard to catch on with.  She told me that I should get the hang of it, because it was easy.  People, I can tell you so IT WAS NOT EASY! There were no real rules.  She was just making up things as we went along. I do know that I was the person that was losing ALL the time! Seriously, I think that I did lose every round of "HELLO KITTY, HELLO KITTY".

Tuesday September 29
We taught the Law of Chastity to Rebecca.  It was weird, because we were planning on teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ but the Lord had a different plan for us.  It was neat because Brenda her cousin that just was baptized was able to bear testimony to her that the Law of Chastity really can change her life.  I loved sitting back, and watching Brenda just testify about it.  It is amazing how the Spirit can work through anyone that is willing to listen.  We also were able to help them shell all these crabs.  It was fun to just sit there. I told them about how we would do this when we went to Oregon, and they now think that in Idaho we catch all of our food.  I may be setting up false expectations about Idaho on accident.

Wednesday September 30
We were on a run at 6:41 in the morning.  At that time, I am not always the most alert.  I was running, and then Sister T2 started running faster.  I looked ahead, and our potential investigator, Gus, was out walking with his dog.  We started talking with him, and he apologized for missing the appointment that we had set up with him.  We also were able to read D&C 89 with our Less-Active that has been struggling with the Word of Wisdom.  She actually asked us if we could read it with her, and I was so happy!!! The Spirit was really strong, and I know that something in it changed her perspective.  She told us that in 2 weeks she is going to be stop smoking.  We also had to go to Pepboys.  "I love that place!" said no missionary ever.  I wish that we didn't have to go there, but it is what it is.  Oh well.  While there other missionaries walked in, and so we all were in a line one studying book of Mormon, one the Bible, one writing in their journal, and the other studying PMG.  We were all just bringing that Spirit into that building.

Thursday October 1
We polished china for our neighbor.  She also had us wear cowboy hats.  I am not really sure what wearing the hats did, but it gave us great opportunities to take pictures.  I was so nervous that we were going to break something, but there was not even a chip in any of the china.  At least not from us!  We also got to see Gus.  he gave us back the pamphlets that we left him.  Although he did keep the Plan of Salvation one.  His wife was killed in their church 10+ years ago, and he misses her a whole lot.  I really hope that the something in that Plan of Salvation Pamphlet can help him.  I know that it has taught me a whole lot, and brought me a lot of comfort.

Friday October 2
We weekly planned, and really tackled our areabook.  We spent so much time on it, but now there is no way that anyone can get confused with it.  We also met a lady in the ward, and we were trying to get to know her.  I thought that her husband had passed away, so I asked how long they were together.  She said, "Too Long." I was like oh... And then she tells us that he lives in Temecula.  and that she never wants to see him again.  It was awkward.  All I could say was "oh I have friends from college from there."  I didn't know what else to say, so then I was like, "so do you like to knit?" Yeah, that was a good representation of our day.

Saturday October 3
CONFERENCE! We played soccer against our Recent Converts, and it was so great.  We were playing before conference started, and it was wet outside so my shoes were really wet all day.  We ate breakfast with Oneida, and watched conference with her.  IT WAS SO GREAT!!!  In between sessions we helped our neighbor move.  It was so great to see all these members helping people that they didn't know.  Teresa told us that when we are asked to bring man power, we really know how to do it.  I love these wards.  They are really good at helping those around them.  We then went to the Bishop's house in the Granite Hills ward.  There was everything under the sun flavored pumpkin.  We ate so many pumpkin waffles, and I don't even feel guilty about it! It was totally worth it! Then we watched the session with them.

Sunday October 4
We watched the conference with our less-active, and we had waffles AGAIN! Still not guilty about those either.  I really love waffles! They are so good!!!  I told our WML about waffles and ice cream, so that will be happening with their family soon.  We then went and watched the last session with another Less-Active.  She made homemade chili, and cornbread.  It also was really good, and I also don't feel bad about that either.  I am really grateful for the things that were spoken at conference.  I really know they are called of God.  This is what I sent to our mission president about conference:   I loved General Conference so much! So many of the talks really helped answer the questions that I have. I really appreciated the things that President Monson said to us. I really appreciated the things that he said about as the world gets farther away from the teachings of Christ, and how we will stand out. But there is nothing wrong with standing out, because that is when the light can shine from our eyes. I really appreciated him saying that, because I feel like sometimes the world really pulls us all down. The world wants to pull us down, and I think that as we let the gospel shine from our eyes then more people will be brought to the gospel. I really appreciated him saying that a lot. I also loved the talk about ponderizing a scripture. I thought that it was a good way to commit ourselves to learn the scriptures that much more. I know that the Spirit will bring these scriptures that we ponderize to our memories when they are needed. I am excited to start with the Jacob 5:47. I think that this has to do with being a missionary, and really being diligent. 
I am so grateful for the things that we were taught during it.  I know they are called of God to lead and guide us.  Later that night, we were able to have a little adventure, and this is the exact way Sister T2 feels about it...

"So last year in college my roommates and friends figured out pretty quick that I'm pretty jumpy if you sneak up on me and try to scare me. Unfortunately, my companion has figured that out too. Yesterday we stopped by the house to grab something late at night. I got what I needed and walked back out into the kitchen. And then I noticed that the front door was open, and it was dark, cold, and windy inside and outside the house. And then I realized that I couldn't hear Sister Rietz anymore. I called for her a couple times and she didn't answer. I figured she was hiding, waiting to scare me, so I yelled that I was not moving from the well-lit kitchen and I would wait for her to come out. Then I realized that if she was murdered I should probably go find her. She better be glad that she has such a brave and courageous companion. I went through the house, turning on all the lights and opening all the doors until, sure enough, she jumped out from behind one of the doors and scared me half to death. I was not happy about it. We need house-mates. 
It's okay though, we laughed about it afterwards. I'm so glad she's my companion!"
I promise that I didn't change anything in that email! It was really funny to get her so well.  She is really easy to scare, but she knows about my hate for feet and so I know that revenge is in the making.

Well, I really hope that you all enjoyed conference, as a past companion said: "Oh CONFERENCE WAS AWESOME!!!!! BEST OF MY LIFE!!!! IF YOU DID NOT WATCH IT THEN REPENT AND GO WATCH IT!!!! IF YOU DIDN'T PAY ATTENTION REPENT AND WATCH IT AGAIN!!!!!!! 
It will change your LIFE!!!!!"  I can promise you that they things Sister N said are true.  Conference really can change your life! I love you all, and I love being a missionary.  There are so many times that I think about how different my life would have been had I not served a mission.  I know this church is true.  I know our Savior lives, and that He loves each one of us.  I know we are all so important to Him.  I know that as we pray, and ask questions we will receive answers.  I love you all.  Have a great week! Stay Safe!
TREV: I hope that your arm heals, and that you get to play a couple more games before the season ends.  Welcome to the Broken Arm Club! ;) 
I hope that I covered everything.  I know that I always miss something that happened through out the week.
Sister Amber Rietz
6541 Woodruff Place
Rancho Cucamonga, Ca
91701
Small me next to a HUGE cactus

Yee-haw

Crab anyone?

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