A Little Bit of Change

Yeah!!! Mommy figured out how to download photos from email, and upload to Blogspot!

Well, looks like all my mom's prayers for me to able to stand the heat have been answered, because I got transferred to the White Mountains yesterday. I'm in a small town called Eager about 4 hours NE of Tempe, and so far so good. The weather out here is beautiful... they say it doesn't get above 95 in the summer, so I definitely came up here at the perfect time.

Not only am I out of the heat, it also feels like I'm out of Arizona. There isn't a cactus to be seen! There are pine trees and mountains, and it is beautiful! I'm really looking forward to getting to the know the area, and having a chance to explore a little bit and see a very different side of the state.

The missionary work will be different too. I'm in what we call a "zebra area" meaning English and Spanish work is combined. My new companion is an English speaking sister, Sister Emrazian, but she speaks Spanish as well so I won't be too alone when we teach lessons in Spanish. We cover 4 English wards and a Spanish Branch. The branch has only about 5 active members, so I guess there's lots of room for growth! :) Apparently, President was thinking about putting 2 English sisters up here, but changed his mind and sent me up instead. I really feel like that means there's someone special for ME to find and touch. I'm up for the challenge!

It will definitely be interesting teaching in English though... it will be nice to be able to express myself a little easier, plus I am far more familiar with the scriptures in English. But, I will miss the Spanish language and culture... hopefully I will still have plenty of opportunities to be around it.

The hardest thing about transfers has been leaving Hermana Wilkins. We were together for four transfers and we were like real sisters. We know everything about each other and share EVERYTHING. It is incredible to me how strong our bond is not only because we have similar interests and personalities, but because we share a testimony of the gospel, and had the wonderful opportunity to hear each others testimonies multiple times a day for the past 6 months.

I had a hard time saying goodbye, and it will definitely be a challenge to adapt to a new companion's habits, teaching style, and our roles within our relationship. Every change brings with it a unique set of challenges, and I am looking forward to my personal growth and all the things I will learn. It gives me yet another opportunity to rely on my Savior, to be humble, and to learn new principles that I know I will use in the future. Sister Emrazian seems to be focused on the work, so I know that we will get lots of things done here. Missionary work is missionary work no matter where you are. Hope all is well wherever YOU may be.

Much love,

Hermana Richelle Ouellette

The picture is from my last night in Queen Creek with the Johnson family, whom we have been living with for the past 6 months.

Pressing Forward (6/9)

So if you haven't heard me complain about it yet, here's a newsflash: Arizona is flippin hot!! Our bishop has a little phrase: Arizona tiene dos estaciones, invierno y infierno... which roughly (ok, exactly) translated means Arizona has two seasons, winter and hell. So true. It got up to 113 degrees this week, which, according to people on the street, is nothing. They're not walking around in it all day though! I do have to admit, that I still think the East coast and other places have it worse with the humidity, but hot is hot is hot!

This week wasn't quite as bad as last week, but still a little rough. We continue to press forward finding and talking to everyone. We read a really good talk this week about being a challenging and testifying missionary, and I have seen more purpose in what I do as a missionary as I try harder to testify of this gospel, and challenge everyone by inviting them to come unto Christ.

One thing that has really helped me this week is that I have been memorizing the Family Proclamation. I finished it and passed it off during my interview with my mission president yesterday. Every day for the past week I have written down a paragraph from the Proclamation onto a sticky note and placed it in my planner. As we were walking around all day, I would read it and memorize it until I had it down. Hermana Wilkins has been working on the same goal, so she was doing this with me.

As the words became more ingrained in my mind they began to have more and more meaning. Certain phrases that haven't really meant as much before really began to be significant and critical as I further understood the purpose of missionary work: to offer to families everywhere the blessings described in this document. There is another quote that I really like that defines a missionary: "Someone who leaves their family for a short time so that others may be with their families for eternity." Thinking about this idea all week has really helped me understand my purpose: WHY am I sacrificing everything to walk around all day in 105+ degree weather trying to talk to ANYONE that will listen??? It is because I love my Heavenly Father, and I know that He loves all of His children and wants to bless them with the same eternal blessings I enjoy. There are so many people in this world who do not even understand that they are a child of God, or the significance this knowledge could have in their life.

I also know that all of my trials are strengthening me to prepare me to one day raise my own family. Truly learning these principles of faith, diligence, patience and charity right now will only bless my life in the future. As I continue to push forward, just as if I were pushing against a wall, my muscles are being strengthened, and my faith is growing. I'm so grateful for this great work, and for Heavenly Father's love and patience with me (and all of us) as we learn to do His will.

Thank you ALL for all of your love and support,

Much love,

Hermana Richelle Ouellette

Trust in the Lord (6/1)

To be brutally honest... this was a REALLY hard week for us. It feels like Satan is working so hard against us, and attacking at every possible angle. We dropped some more investigators that weren't progressing, we have been anti'd several times, we have been struggling trying to find new people to teach, and we can't get the members of our ward to be involved more with the missionary work, so we spent even more time knocking doors this week.

Yesterday was the worst, and it seemed like everything came crashing down around us. Our favorite investigating family (Consuelo & Oswaldo - I've talked about them before) told us that they can't commit at this point in their life. They left us with a beautiful prayer, but Hermana Wilkins and I both lost ourselves to tears the second we got back to the car. It is SO hard to see them so close to receiving the blessings of the gospel for their family and to just give it all up, mostly for sake of inconvenience. We have so much love for this family, and it's hard to think we probably won't ever see them again, and that our dreams of someday going to the temple with them have pretty much completely faded.

We have been comparing our finding efforts to a European mission. (So, if any of you served there and have some tips, they would be appreciated!) Basically, it feels like every single method we try fails. And, when we are blessed to find someone that is genuinely interested, they are not Hispanic and we have to turn them over to the English Elders (big disappointment). Of course, we keep pressing forward, but it is so hard to continue to have faith when time and time again it is shattered.

Last night, after probably the worst day of my mission so far, Hermana Wilkins and I decided the best thing would be some ice cream and a movie. Normally as a missionary that could not be a reality, but fortunately we live with members who were happy to lend us their tv, and just happened to have some ice cream in their freezer. (Tender mercy - they NEVER have ice cream) Anyway, we served ourselves some double fudge brownie and popped in the hit feature, The Mountain of the Lord (just about the only one they had that we are actually allowed to watch). We were trying to drown our sorrows, but actually ended up learning some really important lessons.

The movie is about the building of the Salt Lake City temple, and the 40 (yes 40!) years the Saints spent building it. I was so impressed by everything that they sacrificed everything they had to do the Lord's work, and yet they still suffered so much. It's kind of what we have been thinking - we are here on this mission having sacrificed everything we know to serve the Lord, and sometimes it seems like he has forgotten about us... we're thinking "a little help here!"

It took the workers NINE years to lay the original foundation (they were cutting stones from a quarry in the mountains and it took four days by horse carriage to get them down to the valley). After working hard and long, they learned they would have to bury the foundation under the ground because the US Army was coming to put down the construction of the temple. The army came, and left, and when the people finally unburied the foundation they discovered cracking in most of the stones, which suggested that it would not stand to hold a granite temple over time. Things like this have been happening to us, and our thoughts have been after all this, you have got to be kidding me! But, for the Saints of Salt Lake, this trial turned out to be a blessing because they were able to rebuild the temple foundation with more finely shaped stones, and create a stronger foundation - one that will stand for centuries.

Sometimes it is hard to see this perspective and recognize what we are to learn from our trials. But God is all-knowing, and has a wise purpose in all that He does. We have to trust in His wisdom, and do our best to see the purpose of our trials and burdens. As missionaries we are looking at the foundation we have laid in Queen Creek over the past 5 1/2 months, and are trying to learn what we can do to more finely shape the stones for the future as the work continues to go forth in this area.

I'm grateful for a wise and loving Heavenly Father and for His patience with me as I learn and try to do His will. I am grateful for His tender mercies, and for the love that He and my Savior Jesus Christ have for me. I know that if we put our trust in Him 100% and lean not unto our own understanding and limited perspective, that we will always come out stronger on in the end. Sometimes it may seem like it is going to take 40 years to see an end result, but with patience, we will always stand strong in the end. We must continue to press forward in the Lord's work, mustering faith when we don't seem to have any more. I know that as we continue to do this, we WILL see the blessings. May God bless you in your own personal trials with an eternal perspective and trust in His arm of understanding.

Love always,

Hermana Richelle Ouellette