Email....July 27

HEY
the blue book of mormon challenge was the one that elder bednar gave to read and just look for "in the strength of the lord".

Sis. Harrison is awesome. shes been out for a year. and she has been workin at the VC for at least half of that time. the calls are just from referrals that we recieve from who ever comes into the VC.

Zone Confrence was.. Different. it was alot more casual than with president somers. but it was alot of fun.. i really like president colton. we do interviews with him in a few weeks. the elders that are going home this transfer were soo silly. they kept wantin to take pictures with the sisters. which is a bit unsusal.

dont really know why District meetin was so boring.. it just seemed to drag.

im glad im walkin.. i gained some weight in arco.. no we dont have a car. members are alot more help here.

The Arco sisters stayed with us wednesday nite and told me that george gets baptized on the 25 and lauri was getting baptized on the 26.. i was so excited to hear that..

so you will have to let aunt twila know i ran into her sister in law michelle hall in one of the trailer parks in my area the other nite. it was crazy..

did you ever have a teacher in school in snowflake with the last name Brezee (sp)? thats about all thats new here.

Love you
Love
Sister Stradling

P.S. need $...spent too much on things for investigators at the bookstore ! Thx

Email....July 22

Hiya!

How is everyone doin? so we have a few new changes around here:
1. P-days are now going to be on MONDAYS so today we went to the temple.
2. no more nightly phone calls YES!
3. well probably get more tomorrow at zone conference. so ill let you know on monday.

i saw a really cute tile with vinyl letters on it the other day that said this:
Missionary A missionary will leave her family for 18 months so that those she teaches will be with their families forever. :)
my first day at the Visitors Center wasnt so bad. even makin phone calls. cause you actually have an excuse for callin the people.

Our lesson on wednesday night was cool because the guy we are teachin is so ready to learn the gospel. he even went to the singles ward and then to the regular scarament meeting with his grandma. it was awesome.

we have another appointment with him tonight. Joseph and Susan(LA) are really a neat couple.. they kinda remind me of George and Bonnie. :) once joseph quits smokin, and him and susan get married he will get to be baptized. they are going to feed us dinner on monday and then we are going to have a lesson with them after word.

Sundays are a killer.. we have meeting and church from 630 in the mornin to 400 at night. and we have to do splits because we cover so many wards and they run at the same time half and half.

i finished my little blue Book of Mormon challenge that we got from elder bednar my first transfer out here. so im startin it over again.

My district meeting on monday was so boring.. it was so slow. i couldnt believe how bad it was.. i was going to die.

Guess what?!? Zebbie and Randy are gettin married finally! yay! sister Kohli told us that the other night. i guess Zeb and Randy came into the VC and told sister kohli. we are all so excited.

I finally found a place i can play the piano.. can you believe it! there is one in the Visitors Center. i was so happy when i discovered that yesterday. been needin one.

There has been lots of walkin here. which is good. im startin to look like an arizona girl again. at least my arms are. lol.but thats about all thats new here.. hope all is well at home.

Love you guys
Love
Sister Stradling

PLEASE,

Please leave comments when you visit my blog so Mom can send the comments to me! I can't actually visit my own blog, so just know I'll get your messages! AND thanks for checking in!

E-Mail...July 8th

Hi Everyone!
sounds like 4th was a bit of a bummer. it sure was here! there was absolutely nothing going on. and we even had a partial p-day! sounds like camp was fun too. thats pretty funny that taes gettin into my old house! thats awesome at the same time too. im glad someone other than us are getting her excited for school. last night we came home for being out and someone had completely mowed our yard and pulled out the stumps too. it was crazy cause people have been askin us if our house is as bad as they have been told.

This time for church they have given us topics to talk on. its on elder christoffersons talk from conference. but i havent started it yet. We are singin in arco this coming sunday. Lauri and Bear are helpin us get it right because sister white hasnt every sang in public. its been really fun.

Yes i liked president colton and sister colton. they are pretty neat people. it was funny cause president sat his glasses on his chair while he was talkin then when he sat down he squashed them. it was pretty funny. the interview was good. they asked where i was from, what you two did for work and if the family was active, and then something that i have learned so far since i have been out on my mission. i really dont know if im gonna get transferred this next week. i kinda want to go but at the same time i dont. this last week we didnt get to have a lesson with Radley and Landon. but its all good.

i dont know if sister hooker is related to the hookers in nm. ill have to ask her.

the wedding went very very well! We got the RS room all set up and then sister white and i went over and took bonnie to Davian's shop and she did her hair for her. this is the first time in Bonnies life that she had ever had her hair done by a professional. then we got her in her dress and took her over to the church. deesa took pictures for them. they really turned out. then we had some refreshments afterword. bonnie told us that that was the best day of her life. (and she is Less Active)

On friday we took Lauri to the Visitors Center. it was a really neat experience. we got to watch the new Joseph Smith movie. it was really quiet neat. she even went to the distribution center and got a quad. her son keeps antagonizing her but she just bears her testimony right back at him. she is keepin very strong. she came to church on sunday and bore her testimony in Relief society. there wasnt a dry eye in the room when she was done.

i have told sister white that i dont like the phone several times but it seems that she doesnt care that much. dont get me wrong i do like her. we do have fun. we did have a little blow up on the 4th. she told me to grow up and share my feelings like an adult. said im childish in things that i say sometimes. it hurt a bit. and i still had a hard time explaining my self when she wants me to. you know that thats something that i have always struggled with.and when i bear my testimony she doesnt think that im bearing it from the heart. because it so short and simple. i dont think she understands that im a person of little words. ill say what i want then thats it. no she doesnt know that i talk to kyle a bit each wednesday.(except today it seems like. i think he may be at work)

i really liked the pink shirt thank you. with the backpack im not sure where the bladder is. but if you can find it it would be great to have. i sent a package your way today. it has my purple skirt in it. the hem is coming out so if you could rehem it and then send it back i would really appreciate it. i promise that im gonna quit askin for things. have you been able to find a recorder? have you thought of a digital one? that might work we would just have to send it back and forth. which wouldnt be bad. i was wondering if you could get the picture of the sister missionary that is standing in the mirror and the reflection shows the armor of god.

thank you!
i love you!
love
Sister Stradling

ps is this letter long enough for you? :)

E-Mail......July 1st

its wednesday!

HIYA!
so im doin good. had a few up and down days. but whats new. we have been tryin to keep as busy as possible. we talked in the YSA ward on sunday. my knees were shakin so bad. and we get to sing in arco in two weeks.
the presidents switched on monday. they had about four hours overlap and that was it. the zone conference was in Blackfoot. and it was good. alot of people shed some tears but thats normal for those that had president somers for most of their mission. we get to meet president colton tomorrow at zone council. hes going to be doin two min interviews with each of the missionaries.
George is doin great quittin. Him and bonnie are gettin married on sunday.... (this was decided on saturday) so this week we have been pullin together a small weddin. thankfully Sister Hooker has alot of wedding stuff left over from her daughters' wedddings. and bishop is willing to do the service. and hes gettin baptized on August 1st!
Brandon is in Primary and Justin is in YM. they have only been members for a few months.
We did a walking lesson at the church on monday with lili, billy, and tina. it was fun. we taught the plan of salvation. and went room to room for each step. they really enjoyed it. Wendy Radley and Landon are our investigators from Howe. shes less active and the boys are over aged youth. they are really commin along though. we have another lesson with them tonight. we hope they like it.
wow. nan and pop are really serious about movin down arent they? the flowers kinda reminded me of nanas. we can do service on any day but the weekends.
the sister that took us to IF was Roxanne Lewis. when i talked to brother lewis yesterday he said that grandma great and his grandma were cousins. so we are related some where in there. i think he was raised in SJ.
so i think that some of the things that are buggin me are that i still have a hard time teachin. and talkin at door approaches. (sp) and im sick of makin all the phone calls. if i forget one sister white gets mad at me. i hate it! cause she wants most of the calls made in the car. and she wont even talk on the phone if shes sittin in the drivers seat parked. its annoying.
sorry thats a whinnie paragraph. but when life gets tough just buck up right? its kinda funny cause i think she is more annoyed with kyle than i am that i havent gotten a letter in the past month or so. :)
so another request is... could you send me my yellow camelpack. you might have to call ty to check the store room. my big one is just too big for just my quad and visuals. its startin to make my shoulder hurt again. and could i get a picture of the snowflake temple? :)
sorry no pictures this week i forgot my camera cord at the house. you will have to tell me all about girls camp!
Love you all!
Love
Sister Stradling