maybe they're crazy, but who's not!

Hey everybody, hope your week was good! Mine was quite the ride. When I Iast wrote you we were still in quarantine, with the possibility of being there for another week and a half.

We were very blessed that wasn't our fate, I honestly can't believe that we were only in quarantine for four days; so much happened in that time. It was honestly kinda sad to move back into our apartment (and not just because their apartment is one of the few elect apartments with WIFI). The only issue I had with the entire situation was that four girls were trying to use one bathroom to get ready in the morning, and always had to pee. Other than that it was a good time, 9/10 would recommend (.5 of the reduction is because they didn't have any sugar in their apartment, so I couldn't make frosting for my Oreos!). 

By Tuesday we had to schedule walks into area book so we wouldn't lose our minds. The Yachats apartment is very close to the beach so we walked there a lot in our short time quarantined together. There's this random table with an EPIC view that we'd eat lunch at (see first image). We walked on the rocks and stared at the ocean for almost an hour, trying to hype ourselves up to Facebook find again. When we got back to our apartment we got a message from the Elders saying they were in Eugene getting tested again. This was very good news, Eugene has rapid tests so we'd know REALLY quickly; but I was still enraged because WE HAD TOLD THEM TO GET THAT TEST SATURDAY! But no, they chose to go get tested at the Walgreens drive through!! 

That being said we're very grateful that they were fine, and that Sister Weeks forced them to go get the rapid test (they said it was President Weeks' instruction but President Weeks told us otherwise at interviews). We were especially grateful they got the rapid test on Thursday, when they're Walgreens tests came back inconclusive (!!). Three out of four, the fourth one never came back because Elder Arriola put his email in as "missionary.com".

We got out of quarantine just in time for me to have my first two non-member lessons this week!! We met with Teresa on Wednesday and Geoffrey and Thursday. Both of them are very strong in their faith (still not sure on what that faith is?) and are TALKERS! I'm kind of scared both of them might turn bashy at one point, but we'll see!

Teresa was found through Facebook by a Sister that went home last transfer. We usually communicate with her via email (btw her email is withloveforthelord@someserviceIforgot). She's very wary of technology, and low key might be a conspiracy theorist; but her faith is SO strong. Teresa is a TALKER, she talks a lot, about everything. Apparently she runs a Facebook page dedicated to painting rocks (Waldport Rocks), and she brought me a rock she painted (second image)! She kept talking about how much the Bible has been changed over time, and how a lot of it might have been lost in translation. My comp and I almost started spitting out the entire restoration lesson right there; but we'd already been talking for an hour. Teresa told us she'd start reading the Book of Mormon and come back with questions next week. She also told us she watched Wednesdays Water last week, and read the story of Nephi because of the drawing Sister Peterson and I drew. Which is epic, because that's like the entire purpose of us being on Facebook. I have a lot of hope for Teresa, she seemed really eager to talk with us; but I also know that she's pretty set in her ways. This will be a long road, but she is so eager to talk about Christ.

Geoffrey has been talking to missionaries for a hot second (off and on). I get the vibe his memory isn't very good. He asked Sister Peterson and I if we were Sisters. Which is weird for a number of reasons: 1) he's meet with missionaries many times 2) we don't look similar 3) my name tag says Hermana. I don't think his memory is very good (he's admitted to past drug use, the word of wisdom is in fact wisdom my friends). He talked for forty straight minutes at one point, about his conversion story, and I don't think any of it was in order. He told us he met Jesus (like literally, and also he admitted he was high), and that the first thing the spirit told him was to stop selling weed (I think that one was true). We meet with him in his green house, where we grows the largest lemons I've ever seen, which I kept thinking would fall on my head and kill me any minute (see image 3 below). He kept talking about how faith is like a seed near the end though, so naturally we invited him to read Alma 32 before next week. We'll see how that goes. 

Other people that we had a bit more luck with this week:

Diane- Diane's kids have all moved to Utah and she had a daughter going to USU (she talked to me about it for 15 minutes over the phone once). She hasn't wanted to meet yet, because she doesn't want to over the phone, or outside (too cold); so we were kind of out of options. UNTIL our mission President casually mentioned that after prayerful consideration he has decided that the 60+ age limit will be lifted in our area (since that's all but four families in our area). President really mentioned this very casually as if it didn't change our entire lives here on the coast; but who cares because we can see people IN PERSON now (masks worn and up to the person of course). We called Diane Thursday, turned out it was her birthday, so we rushed over and brought her cookies (homemade Oreos of course!). She said thanks and that we should set up a lesson next week!

Valerie and Richard- BP's (our WML) neighbors. They've been on our radar forever but nothing much has happened, we dropped them off treats and talked to Richard for a while though. He said he'd call and set something up, we'll see how that goes.

Kathy- Kathy lives by some members. She was so lonely that one day she prayed to God and told him if he brought a "Mormon" to her door she'd join the church. The member's brother came and knocked on the door to talk to her right after!!! Kathy isn't making super good on her promise though! We haven't been able to contact her once,. She asked her neighbors if the missionaries could do some service for her inside her house, WHICH WE NOW CAN!!

Members:

We helped some new members move into their house this week, everyone kicked it into high gear so we could make it home right before curfew. ;)

We had our weekly lesson with Fitzsimmons. He's one of my favorite member lessons we do. He's so sweet, and always seems excited to talk to us. Apparently he's been active for YEARS, and has been dodging meet with the missionaries for a LONG TIME; but he did once, and now he has weekly appointments with us and is going to church. On Sunday he blessed the sacrament!!! This week he shared his testimony of tithing, which he payed faithfully even when he was inactive! It was so powerful! Hopefully he'd be willing to have the FHAM zone film it, I'd love for all of you to get to hear it! He also volunteered to let us practice our Spanish with him (he served in Mexico)!

Such a fun and busy week, and next week is already looking crazy! Much love from the coast! Hope everyone has a good week!

Hermana Shelton :)

quarantine but mission edition

WHAT a week! I will be starting with the normal part first, then we'll get into the absolute ride the last 60ish hours have been.  

Last Monday we went to Thor's Well, which was SUPER cool! First image attached below (if these don't go through in order, I'm sorry). It was epic!

Tuesday was once again spent doing service at the clothing exchange. I took a sweater (everything is free at this exchange so we're allowed to take anything we like which is wild). Hermana Hawkins always takes home a load because thrifting is her passion. We spend the whole day sorting and hanging up clothes. It's actually exhausting, and my feet kill by the end of the day. Also we work with these older people (and somehow we (the 20 year old missionaries) are the ones that wear masks. Anyway the older people have us take a break and eat lunch before 11 a.m. which is painful.

Wednesday we had exchanges, which apparently means you exchange companions with the STLs (Sister Training Leaders). It was pretty cool, the STLs were hyped to see the coast. One of them made a sandwich with ranch dressing, Doritos and pepper-jack cheese. Our ward mission leader (BP) fed us after. Then when it came time to go home, they lost their keys. Which lead to us frantically searching (after praying obviously) all over town for over half an hour. They ended up being in her purse! Which was actually pretty hilarious.

Thursday I had my first Zone Conference. We got to drive along the coast to Eugene, and it was so pretty!!! After Zone conference all the sisters in our zone (4 sets) went and got food and ate them in our cars because we couldn't eat inside. The only downfall of serving on the coast is that we're in what Sister Mitchell likes to refer to as "banishment". We're so far from the rest of the zone that we don't really know them that well. One the way back us four Sisters jammed so hard to Disney music I couldn't talk for 12 hours after. 10/10 experience, you'll never hear a group of people try to sing along to words they don't know as us during the non-English part of "Circle of Life".

Friday morning we had district council, which isn't special except this time the Elders were sick and didn't tell us. I didn't notice anything in the moment except when Elder Arriola popped a cough drop. Which was brave to do in a public place during a pandemic. Sister Peterson and I had a great day living in ignorance; but after our lesson with the Seversons (which is the only family we see in person ! Which turned out being fine, because Brother Severson got exposed at work anyway, he's a cop) we saw a message from the Elders saying some of them were sick. We had a video call as a district and an Elder really had the audacity to drink out of a milk jug on camera as we were talking about the potential spread of a virus. I was awestruck! 

Saturday morning my comp (Sis Peterson) was feeling pretty stressed over all the things we needed to do, and she asked in our morning prayer for time to finish everything we needed to do. God really does answer prayers let me tell you. Within a couple hours, we had called almost everybody in the mission, and our entire lives got shut down. We had my first non-member lesson scheduled for that afternoon, and WE had to cancel on HIM. That was kinda rough. Just to top of our day, both of our member lessons decided to cancel on us that night too; so it was kind of a rough day.

We went insane for a hot second, and drew the most epic diagram of how far this could spread! We were in hysterics by the end if the night,  because we just kept connecting dots and we found the comedy of it all (see chart attached below). For those of you who have forgotten, a positive test would be rather bad, because we live in a retirement community. Luckily we aren't allowed to really be in contact with people over sixty much. 

Since we have to quarantine, Sister Peterson and I moved in with the Sister Mitchell and Hawkins. The other sisters will kill me for saying this but it's been a good time, then again it's been less than 72 hours. There are a lot of details we're gonna need to figure out (the most pressing one currently is groceries), but the rest of them (like when to reschedule our lessons with Geoffrey Austin and  Teresa Sperry, the nonmembers Sister Peterson and I had lessons with but can't meet with now *sad face*) we will be waiting to answer until the Elders tests come back (image of one of them crying after below).

Our ward shut down (after only one week in person) since we had been in the building for District Council. So the only week they've been in person (last week), I had the pleasure of speaking! Hermana Hawkins was supposed to talk in church this week, but she God took pity on her I guess. The ironic part was that our ward joined the Newport ward instead (online). WHICH IS WHERE THE SICK ELDERS LIVE?!?! The logic was definitely not there on the stakes part, but it's okay.

For obvious reasons this will be a week filled with Facebook finding, which is cool because then we will find some new people to teach!! We are praying for negative tests, but we won't know the results until Wednesday, because the Elders managed to find the worst test in Oregon, they're wrong for that. 

Anyway the rest of the pictures are of us at the absolutely gorgeous places that are casually right next to where we live! The mission is so cool, hopefully all of this was just a scare and we can get back to normal (and our board won't come to pass)! 

I finished the Book of Mormon this week, which was awesome! Now I'm back in First Nephi and it feels like talking with an old friend. The Book of Mormon is SO amazing every make sure to read it every day!! 

Much love from my quarantine home,

Hermana Shelton

PS: Elder Arriola hasn't been in the last three video calls we've had as a district and I'm convinced drinking out of the milk jug actually killed him. Send prayers! 

Last Weeks Email that Never Sent!!

Apparently my email from last week never sent? It said it was "queued"? Anyway this is the email I typed last Monday. If you're only going to read one from me this week, I'd recommend the one that'll be coming later today though!

******************

We do service at a clothing exchange every Tuesday. It's with these people from another church that don't believe you should eat fruits and vegetables in the same meal (apparently it'll make you die faster, but I'm not shooting for 100). We were there hanging up donated clothes for over five hours, and just when we'd finish hanging up a box,  another would come in. They get an INSANE number of donations, we were sorting and hanging all day and their pile just kept growing as people dropped more off! It was super cool and the people were really nice. Although during lunch I thought this guy that looks exactly like the uncle from Duck Dynasty was going to get in a fight with this other lady about the ecosystem. 

We have about two member lessons a night, which are always a good time. As I mentioned last week we live in a retirement community, so Zoom lessons are required (missionaries can't go into the house of someone over 60) and they are always highly entertaining!!! The angles that people hold their phones at are always amusing me. Here are some of the highlights this week

         ○One family decided each of them would be on their own devices during the Zoom call, which took over 10 minutes and the silence was deafening. 

         ○a member showed up partway through the lesson dressed as santa and started taking deep doctrine about the plan of salvation.

         ○ one guy always holds his phone so I can see up his nose !!

There have been a few days where it DIDN'T rain?!?! How excited I was! We walked outside and actually got to have dry hair for a bit. Seeing the sun again felt VERY nice. 

Friday night the YSA bishop asked my companion and I to talk. Which was a bit of a RIP, but he neglected to mention a time frame so they was nice. I had to write a talk at a speed I've never been able to imagine. I was pretty stressed for a while, and then I remembered the turnout to the YSA ward and I calmed down a bit. Just as I expected there were about seven people in the chapel (and about 8 on Zoom); so it kinda felt like I was just talking to myself. Which was pretty nice. 

We had two nonmember lessons set up this week.... and BOTH of them cancelled; but we have them rescheduled and have been in contact with a few people we could potentially teach from our Coast 4 Christ page (one of them sent me an absolute novel of an email)! Hopefully something happens there.

Apparently the "Coast 4 Christ" page has been booming recently. Big shutout to all y'all that liked the page for me, you're making us look really good. Hopefully some of the people that joined are actually people from the area we can teach sometime!

If any of you are free at 6 o'clock Oregon time on Wednesday watch the other Sisters and I go live on the Coast 4 Christ page. The Elders got almost as many views as us last week and I refuse to let that happen again, please boost our stats. Also it'll be fun and good for the soul so watch!!

Anyways have a GREAT week everybody! Stay safe and healthy and read your scriptures! 

Hermana Shelton (or Sister, depends on who you ask !!!)

PS: I live in a tsunami hazard zone, so that's fun. We've been given instructions on what to do in a crisis (it was the first thing they told us when we showed up), and I really hope my companion remembers! Overall would recommend, the thrill of the unknown is quite fun!

welcome to the coast!!

what a week! I can't believe seven days ago I was sitting on zoom in the Mendon MTC! wild!

I flew out of the SLC airport Wednesday morning, and that was such an experience! The new airport has this new machine for security, and it would put the tubs on the other side of the glass if it wasn't up to snuff; so naturally both of my tubs ended up there :). This guy told me he'd have to send them back through (I still don't know why, or how sending the exact same thing through would change anything but here we are). Anyway the tub that just had my suitcass in it made its way back within five minutes. The tub with my shoes, jacket, wallet, and plane ticket didn't. I waited for like 20 minutes and watched all these people come and go before I asked some guy if he'd seen my shoes; and this lady (who looked so strangely familiar and I couldn't get over it) made it her life mission to find my tub. Turns out the first guy was a scrub and just set it to the side and never put it on the tub.

After locating my shoes (and literally everything vitally important) I started to walk to gate B. Turns out gate b is literal miles away. I walked for a really long time before arriving to the b gates. Then I walked to B30 (the last one). There was like 20 missionaries there (all but one reassigned from somewhere else). We waited around for a while before they started to board. These two sisters almost missed the plane because they took the longest bathroom trip of all time. Then once we boarded we had to walk through this maze that lead us to a parking lot, where a bus drove us to our plane.

Once we landed we drove to a church building, we did some orientation stuff then I met my companion Sister Peterson (she's been out for 16 months today!). I also found out what area I was going to, but it meant nothing to me. My companion, two others Sisters (who are also serving in our area), and I drove back to the airport because the other new Sister's luggage had been put on a later flight. After about an hour there we learned the flight was delayed so someone would have to bring it to us. We then drove to our area, which is when I learned that I was GOING TO THE COAST!! I had no idea and I was so pumped. It's rained every day since I've been here, apparently it's the worst time of year to be here; but I see the ocean EVERY time I drive anywhere. It's so pretty.

I've taught like six lessons so far, but all to members. We have a couple nonmember lessons lined up this week so hopefully they come through! We live in a retirement community pretty much, so we aren't allowed to go in anyone's houses so we either zoom them or sit on their porch in the rain. Zoom with these older people is honestly so funny. They'll all be holding their phone so we can see up their nose and stuff! It kills me!

The members here are so sweet though and sign up for lessons with us (we have two member lessons a night). They also feed us dinner almost every night!

Sister Peterson and I are assigned to the YSA branch; so we had to go and bear our testimonies in two sacraments (this church building puts out chairs for its chapel BTW, they have no pews). The normal ward was over zoom so it was just us and about 10 others. The YSA was in person for the first time this week though; and no one showed up. Literally. It was two sets of missionaries and the people with callings in that ward. Not one member of the word walked in! Which made it so we had to bear our testimonies (which we also had to in the first one). It was so awkward I felt so bad for the Branch President.

My comp is also new to the area and so we're trying to figure out the people and the area. We have two lessons with nonmembers set up though so hopefully everything works out!

Needless to say my rain boots have gotten A LOT of use :) it's only NOT been raining for about 6 hours total of my time here! Which makes backing my companion a bit rough (missionaries aren't aloud to reverse without there comp giving them hand signals behind the car). It's a pretty cold experience but it's all good.

Much love from the Coast,
Hermana (or Sister now) Shelton.