Missions are hard. Knocking on doors is hard. But the callouses on my knuckles are harder.

Whelp. I stayed in Apple Valley.  I am still with Sister T2, and we are still covering both wards.  It is so weird to think that this is the first time that I have had a companion for more than 6 weeks, since Sister T. She thinks that she is going to be my last companion.  That would be nice.  Then I wouldn't have to let any more people meet the crazy Sister Rietz.  

Well Sister E2 is home.  She is sitting in the San Francisco Airport waiting to fly to Hong Kong, and then who knows where else.  If you hear of a lost Sister Missionary in Hong Kong, know that it is probably her, and she is fine.  On Tuesday after District Meeting we all met up at Panda Express and had one last meal together.  She loves Panda, and really wanted it before she left.  So we all got it, and it was great to just talk with her, and think about all the crazy things that happened over the last couple weeks that we were companions.  Being a missionary is so great.  I am sure that I have said that more this whole last week than ever before in my whole life.  Some how I happen to get myself into sticky situations are times when things are not the best for us... not sure, but there is a way that we always get out of it.  Being a missionary was hard this last week, but the blessings and the knowledge of the Gospel have never helped more.

Monday: Bed Bugs.  We were asked by a member to come over and help pack up some things in her house because she was getting her apartment sprayed...  So being the service missionaries that we love we told her we could come over after our dinner.  We got there and they put us right to work.  We were packing bags and boxes, and cleaning out closets.  There were cockroaches everywhere so we both thought that it was getting sprayed for them... NOPE. Someone (ME) had the bright idea to ask what they were getting sprayed for besides cockroaches.  The mom looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "Cockroaches. Oh Heavens No.  Those little $^(*&%^$  will die with this spray though.  We are getting sprayed for bed bugs."  I wanted to just cry and freak out right then and there.... I was so scared that we were going to get bit, and that we would bring them home with us.  We got home that night and showered and bagged our clothing and put it outside for the whole week.  We opened it this morning, and there was only one bed bug that was dead in it.  So I think that we are safe.  So that was the beginning of our week. Great way to start off the week right?

Tuesday: We get to District Meeting and the first thing the Elders in our District say is "Hey Look at this cool lizard that we caught!" They had a lizard in a cup and they were all so mesmerized by it.  I knew Elders would always be like little boys, but this was just a whole new thing. Hahaha, so G joined us for all of District Meeting.  At the end of District Meeting we took the classic end of the transfer pictures, and then we headed to Panda Express to go meet up with the other Sisters.  It was great to be with them, as I mentioned before.  Then we got the news that our house was going to be getting checked that day for cleanliness... Umm thank heavens we cleaned it on Monday.  Then we went and tried to find people.  We really just planted lots and lots of seeds. and then more and more seeds.  We were supposed to have a lesson with our Recent Convert but, neither he nor the members that we were going to have it with could have it.  So that left us with our back up of finding.  We saw that some less active members lived on the same street as our dinner, so we decided to go and contact them.  Well we didn't meet them in person, but their front doors were nice.  And now they have a nice little card to go with them.  Because He Lives cards were on a lot of doors this week from us.  We had an amazing dinner at our Ward Mission Leaders house, and then he came with us to a lesson with our investigator and his returning Less active wife.  The lesson was so great! I loved how our WML would just really carry the conversation. He would talk about a gospel principle and then let Larry talk, and then he would bear testimony of what Larry said.  IT WAS AMAZING!!! He gave both of them blessings, and in Larry's blessing it talked about how he would be able to be baptized, and take his wife to the temple.  I was crying. Larry was crying. Rene was crying.  The Spirit was so strong in that room, and I never wanted to leave.  Larry is waiting for some things with probation and another court case to clear up, so that he can get baptized.  I know that he is going to get baptized.  I had been praying this last week that we would know how to help him, and the blessing wasn't only an answer to his concerns but also an answer to my prayer. I love how Heavenly Father works.  He is amazing and I know that He is completely aware of those that are around me and the things that they are dealing with.

Wednesday:  Another day completely dedicated to FINDING! We had a list of about 15 people that were former investigators to go try.  No one wanted to talk with the Sister Missionaries.  Not really sure why, we are hilarious, normal for the most part, and we have a message for everyone to hear! So people, come to your door and listen to us for 1 minute! Tracting from 12-4:15 is not my most favorite thing to do, but we did meet some nice people.  One lady opened the door, took one look at us, and told us: Good Luck...  Thanks Lady, you have a good day too! One man was standing at the door with it open when we walked up.  He told us he saw us coming and didn't want to wake the baby.  We talked about the family proclamation, and now they have one in their home.  We are planning on going back, and seeing if they have any questions.  We had a good dinner, and they gave us all the left overs.  That saved us from having to get a lot of food prepared the next day.  We were able to just make the chicken sandwiches and get going.  It was great.

Thursday: More Referrals and Formers.  But before all of that happened, we had a lesson with the newest member of our teaching pool! Her name is Millie, and she is one of the most HUMBLE people that I have ever met! She has been prepared by the Lord, and we are really just so amazed at her desire to learn! She told us she would come to church on Sunday before we could even invite her.  She really just committed herself to come to church.  We walked out of that lesson, and I told Sister T2 that we were going to need to start praying for a date for her.  She is just so solid.  After that, we had another lesson with Larry and Rene.  It was great! They kept talking about the blessing, and how it really has helped them even though hit was just 2 days before.  I was amazed at their humility, and their desire to continue just trusting in the Lord.  I really love when that happens.  It just goes back to what I was saying about they really are so great, and Heavenly Father knows what they need in their lives.  After that lesson, we just went and tried tons of people! We went tracting, gave out tons of cards, and talked with literally only 5 people.  Then we went and had a Young Woman come with us.  She is so great.  She wants to serve a mission so we are taking her out with us.  We went and tried this potential, and let's just say she was NOT happy that we were there.  She yelled at us, and then told us to get off her property.... and then she just quit talking to us.  COMPLETE SILENCE! I felt so bad that we had brought Stacy with us. She is going to think people hate the missionaries.  Then we went and had dinner with a Part Member Family.  The Mom is not a member, but she told us that she wants her family raised in the Gospel.  She pretty much said that she will be baptized when her husband is 100% active on his own.  So we are praying that Trent is gonna get his head on straight, and start coming to church cause that is what is right and not because that is what Hailey wants.  Then we had coordination in the Ranchos ward.  It was really effective, and many great amazing things are going to start happening in that ward.

Friday: We weekly planned, and updated the Area Book for almost the whole day! With all the studies, lunch, and weekly planning and then the Area Book the whole day was almost sucked up! It was crazy, we ate dinner at our place and then we were off to a Recent Convert's house that isn't really a Recent Convert, but she is Less-Active half the time.  We had an awesome lesson with her, and talked about why it is important to get Patriarchal Blessings, and how they really can help us.  The Spirit was strong as well.

Saturday: back to Jo's house to do service.  We helped her shave her dog, and that was the weirdest service project that I have ever done.... We also are dying her dog pink for service on Tuesday.  I will let you all know how that goes. haha, the things that you do on a mission.  So this day was also one of the most stressful.  I thought that I was going to go crazy, because Transfer Doctrine came.  These days it is so hard to concentrate, because you know that if someone is getting transferred, that all of your backups become packing and saying goodbye to members.  Doctrine finally came, and we found out that we are both staying! We did a dance in the car, and then it was off to work.  We got lost on more dirt roads.  It would really be helpful if our maps that we had showed all the areas that we cover.  I think that would help a WHOLE lot, and probably save us a lot of miles.  We had a really good dinner at a member's house, and I thought that we were going to die.  You know how at Thanksgiving there are 100's of options.  Well that is how this family is.  They love to have options and let you choose what you want to be the main part of your dinner.  I loved it! We had a lot of beans though.  Everything was bean based... You can imagine how that all went later on...  I'll let your imagination do the work.

Sunday: We were at the Church from 6:50-2:12. That is what happens when you cover two wards, and they are almost back to back, and you have lots of meetings in the morning.  WHOO!  That night we had dinner for breakfast again.  They had lots of options as well.  It was great! They asked why I didn't like Bacon, I should have told them that we believe in eating meat sparingly.  That would have been nice.  They thought it was a weird Idaho thing.  WE EAT BACON IN IDAHO, I JUST DON'T LIKE IT!  We then tried more people, but for some reason even more people didn't want to talk with us.  People are crazy!!!  I also got a phone call from a random 909 number.  It was Candy, and she got my number from some sisters.  It was great talking with her.  She is the best!

Well as you can see, we had a week filled with ATTEMPTING to find.  I know that there are prepared people in Apple Valley.  They must just be hiding under a rock. Or maybe I am.  I know that this church is true.  I love being a missionary, even if it does mean just knocking doors over and over.  One of the Elders once said that tracting was worth it, even if it just made them think about God for 10 seconds.  I thought a lot about that this last week.  Cause when people see that card on their door, and if they watch the video they will be thinking about not only God, but also Jesus Christ.  I know who the Savior is to me.  I know that He is the way back to our Heavenly Father.  I know it is hard sometimes, but in the end it is all worth it.  I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.  I know that as we think of the Savior, and strive to BECOME like him, then we will.  I can promise every single one of you that.  You can BECOME like the Savior.  He wants you to come to Him.  He loves you, go to this website, and you will love this talk. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/followers-of-christ?lang=eng 

I hope that you all have a great week! We are going to the temple on the 17th, so I am not sure what day we are taking as our P-day next week.  I love you all.  Oh, and Elder Falabella is coming to our mission this week.  We have a conference with him this week.  That should be really good.  I will let you all know how it goes! Have a really great week, and pray that we find a lot of people to teach!

Pictures: 

Sister Allen and I with our ice cream that we stalked the ice cream man for on exchanges.

Sister Ednalino and I the last time.

The Sunsets are Super Great Here.

Sister Amber Rietz

6541 Woodruff Place

Rancho Cucamonga, Ca

91701

The sunsets are super great here!

Sis. A and I with our ice cream treats we stalked the ice cream man for on exchanges

Our Granite Hills ward-mates

Our Ranchos ward-mates

One last dinner at Panda Express with Sister E.

My long lost soul-sister

Tripanionship take two. Trusting the Lord. Filipino Humor

1.Funniest Thing Done: Well there are a lot of really funny moments being a missionary, but when you have a companion from the Philippines (Sister E2) things are just a little bit more hilarious! There are so many things that we all say that are hilarious and just great... But then you add in her adorable accent, and suddenly you are just laughing your head off.  Some of my favorite things that she has said, "What Ever Major Loooooossseeerrr!" 'Sister can I haveeeeee.. Please?! I am just poor Filipino..." "and I was like what the heck." "oooouuuu Sister G you got a love letter" "What will we tell President when we all have colds from the rain?" "Stupid Americans." "We have refrigerator, microwave, and toilet in the Philippines. We aren't stupid." So I just realized that these were not funny to you all, but they are really funny when you hear her say them.  She gets on these weird rants about things.  I am learning that I need to have lots of space on my camera to capture her saying all her great little phrases.  I will try to get as many videos this coming week.

Also, this last week there was a really big fire in the Cajon Pass.(Look it up on the Internet... IT IS CRAZY)   Sister E2 and I were out in the Ranchos area (we left Sister G with a member, because she was sick), and we saw all the smoke.  So we decided to drive as close to it as we could.  We didn't get that close, cause our area was still not that close. Sister E2 was so excited because she loves fire.  She just kept saying, "We are going to go see firemen work!!! WHOOO!" We never saw the fire, but we got some sweet videos of the smoke.

2.Biggest Blessing or Miracle: We have been trying to get more people to teach, but that hasn't been the best this last week. But we did get a referral for a guy that lives 3 houses down from us.  It is super great that we can walk there, but he is always either pulling out of his driveway when we are walking up, or he isn't home.  We are really excited because the first time that we talked with him, he was so happy to see us.  It took us awhile to get the referral, but we were able to contact him as soon as we could.  He has so many questions! I love it! Another Miracle: Oneida's Son Greg who is 9 told us that he wants to get baptized the same day as his mom. That was such a surprise, and shock to us, because she said that he would probably not really want to do it. That religion wasn't his thing. But when we were talking with him, he talked about how He loved church, and couldn't wait for Sunday. They also are all reading the Book of Mormon every night. Last week we promised that the Lord would bless them if she made the point and effort to read every single night. She told us that her mom is telling her reading the Book of Mormon every night is not that important, and Oneida told her mom: "Too many blessings are coming from the Lord, I have to read." Her mom is a less-active and is the kind of person that gets offended and then quits coming to church. I love that Oneida is able to realize the blessings of reading the Book of Mormon.

3.Exciting Events: We are now in a tripanionship! There was a Sister that President called me and asked if I would be willing to have another sister with us.  I was kinda worried, and then I realized that the Lord was just showing that he really trusted me, after all the other things that I was stressed about.  I am so grateful for the reassurance from Heavenly Father, and from President H.  I know that it is only for last week and this coming week, but it has been really good so far, and I am sure that this week there will be lots of videos, and pictures taken where we all look ridiculous... haha, classic missionary poses, awkward door approaches, and maybe a smile/normal face from time to time. eh... who am I kidding, that isn't going to happen.

4.Favorite Game: Puddle Jumping! or getting the Corolla stuck in the mud... I love to puddle jump.  It is so fun.  Yesterday we were out and about aaannnddd there were a lot of streets that were flooded.  Since half of our area is dirt roads and then when the rains come, and the floods come then the roads go away, and it all becomes mud.  I am making a petition to get us a truck.  There is no way that if the rain continues, then we will only be able to work in a couple areas of our wards.

5.Favorite Food: Filipino Food! except sometimes I don't know what Sis E2 is making me.  I have had some weird food just in the last couple days.  I have had fish soup, with some lemon and rice and onion.  It was surprisingly good... Although it was smelling weird.

6.Most Challenging Thing:  Knowing that one of your best friends is leaving the mission and that she won't be at the mission office at transfers, to give me a big hug, and ask how I am doing.  I love Sister M. Saying goodbye to her is really the hardest thing.  I am not going to be able to call her by her first name it will always be Sister M to me.  I was promised that I would make a lot of good friends on my mission, but I never realized how good of friends they would be.  It gives a whole new meaning to having friends that share the same standards and goals in life as you.  She was one of my hardest working companions, and she was the only companion that lasted more than 3 transfers.  She was such an example to me, and the things that she taught me will not only stick with me on the mission, but for ETERNITY! I would go back in a heart beat to the day that I met her.  She was the one sister that when I saw, I was hoping would be my companion.  She had this long flowy hair, and she was wearing a white shirt with black birds on it, with a royal blue skirt.  She was the one that taught me to not wear dark blue, and black.  She taught me how to contact people, and share my testimony of the restored gospel with others.  She was the one who never gave up on me, and I am so grateful for that.  From the Beginning to the End, Sister M is one of my BEST FRIENDS <3, and someone that I know I knew in the Pre Earth Life.  Family, I can't wait to see you, but I would go back to 14 months ago to when I met Sister M, and start it all over again.  I LOVE YOU SISTER M!

7.Simple Pleasures: Rain! It helped with the fires, and it made our area the new Disneyland.  I think that I am going to start charging people to come here to good ole' Rancho, and Granite Hills. I LOVE THE RAIN!

8.Goals: Get 3 new Investigators this week! Prep for TRANSFERS!!!

9.Biggest Smile: We have a member that is dying of cancer that I have told you all about. Well she wants her daughter to be raised in the church, after she passes away. So we have been working with the Bishop and Relief Society President to find her an LDS family. Well Bishop just found a family that will take her! WHOO! The family has 5 kids, and they love Brie already! She is so excited too, because they have a horse, and dogs. They are filling out the paperwork for joint guardianship so that if she dies the daughter will have legal guardians to take care of her!! We were so relieved when we heard about it! It seriously has been giving us stress this past few weeks! When we got into the car after hearing this we just yelled "Thank you Heavenly Father!" It is so amazing to see how Heavenly Father uses us to help others! It is such an amazing blessing for everyone involved when you listen to the prompting and when you act on the opportunities that are presented to you!! 

10.Biggest Accomplishment: Not really getting all that stuck in the mud! Haha, we only were 30 minutes late to dinner, and the roads were all washed out.  But other then that, it was great!!!

11.Favorite Scripture Story Studied: The Tree of Life.  It is kinda how weird how much we can compare it to our lives.  You all should study it, and ask yourself how it can apply to you.

12.Favorite Quote: "Did you know that there is no Hell? They tell us there is one to scare us, and then we get scared. So we can LIE!" -Sister E2  (One of our first days with her she told us that it was ok to lie because there isn't a hell! We just doubled over laughing!)

Also, got this cool email to everyone in the Mission from President:

Dear Elders and Sisters:
Sister H and I love you and are proud of you. Our mission has focused on reading the Book of Mormon each day and drawing closer to Christ. We know the Book of Mormon will give us comfort, build our faith, and draw us closer to our Savior. That is so important for each one of us. We have heard so many testimonies of the blessings that have come from the Book of Mormon. Thank you for your faith and effort. Faith and diligence invite miracles. They also lift our spirits and give us peace.
We have also focused on Preach My Gospel and setting companionship baptism goals. We know this will give us focus and purpose. We have seen blessings come from these things.
Last week's key indicators were all higher. In fact, much higher than previous weeks. We hear about and see good things happening. This is the Lord's work. As we join with Him, we see His hand and blessings in our lives and in our work.
California Rancho Cucamonga Mission Last Five Weeks Key Indicators Report
Last week we had
7 Baptisms
81 Baptismal Dates
86 At Sacrament Meeting
123 Member Presents
82 New Investigators
Each one of these numbers represent one of our Heavenly Father's children. Someone He loves and someone you have helped draw closer to Christ. These are the best numbers we have had in a number of weeks. Our averages are moving up. That is a blessing from the Lord. Of course we can and want to do better, but we are progressing and the Lord is blessing us. We know that focusing on the fundamentals: Book of Mormon, Preach My Gospel, the Missionary Handbook, and seeking to baptize by setting companionship goals will give us purpose and direction. We will grow in testimony, and we will be able to share the Spirit with others. If we can connect them to the Spirit, we will see more miracles and we will feel joy. Please read Jacob 5:75--it is true.
Sister H and I love you. We are proud of you. Have another great week. Sister H would like you to also read 1 Nephi 17:3. She testifies that principles with promises are very real. I agree with her.

Love
President and Sister H

So cool right?!

I love being a missionary.  So grateful for all of you, and the testimony building experiences that you all have had.  Continue being amazing.  I know the Lord blesses all of us! He only wants to bless us, but we have to do our part first!!! I am so grateful for Family Home Evening, and all the times our family was together.  Those are the times that I know helped my testimony a lot.

Love, Sister Rietz

Sis E2 and I got really board reading the Ensigns while Sis. G slept.  

It is raining outside, A LOT!

We found some toilets on the side of the road, and sat on them.