Transfer Ahead! November 4, 2013

This week was pretty exciting! We found a couple of new investigators and had some fun! On Tuesday we taught Angie, and Brother Becker came with us. That was the first time he'd ever come out with the sister missionaries! Go us! On Wednesday we spent over 2 hours just walking around in this one neighborhood and talking to a TON of people. It was ridiculous but I loved it. We also taught a new investigator that day. Her name is Penelope and while we were there her friend Ernesto walked in. Ernesto speaks really fast and was really excited to see us. "Oh, you missionaries? You share the word of God? I need the word of God today man, I'm so stressed out." He helped us move Penelope's couch out to the curb and then started asking if we knew what scripture he had been looking for. He started to describe it and I went "Wait, I read that this morning!" It was Luke 11:13 - "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?". Ernesto was blown away. He asked me to read it again and again, and he asked if he could bow down as I prayed. We were like, "Uh, no, how about we all kneel and pray together." It was a little weird, but super amazing because that really opened the door for him to want to meet with missionaries too! He lives in another ward, so we passed him on to those missionaries.

On Halloween, we did service at the food bank because they called in desperate need of help! So we did that, then we taught Angie again, but this time we gave her roommate a Book of Mormon. Melanie (roommate) always sits in and listens to our lessons, so we figured she was ready. Then we went to a member's home for Halloween dinner! We were there for SO LONG, but it was okay because we weren't supposed to be out unless we had set appointments anyways (which we didn't). We helped the teenage son decorate/dress up his car to look like a pinata, we made pizza and "monster finger" breadsticks... fun all around.

On Friday, we got some very sad news... Sister Noakes is leaving the Grand Junction 1st ward :( Yep, I'm outta here! Sister Masima will be follow up training someone she came out with (they'll be training each other). I'm not training this transfer, and I have NO IDEA where I'm going. Ahh, mission life. Anyways, I'm pretty bummed about it but I know that the Lord needs me elsewhere (If only because somewhere around 20 different people have told me so. Hahaha.) So then on Saturday, we had to go to a training on training for Sister Masima, run by President and Sister Murdock. I showed Sister Murdock our newspaper article and she was so excited! We taught a couple of people that day as well. We had fast and testimony meeting on Sunday, and all the missionaries in our mission were doing a mission fast, which was really cool. And, Angie came to church!! We were so excited, since she promised last week and didn't come. She stayed for all 3 hours and really liked it. All four of us missionaries bore our testimonies, and the ward always appreciates that. Oh, and in elder transfer news - Elder Austin is staying and training a new missionary, and Elder Jacobson is leaving and becoming a zone leader somewhere out west.

So that was our week! Eventful if a little sad.

Love you all SO MUCH!

Sister Noakes

I asked Sister Noakes about the singles ward sister that she often does service with; Sisters Cope and Joslin are staying in the single's ward. They're pretty bummed because they'll be there over Thanksgiving. Hahaha. (They don't get fed terribly often in the single's ward, ya know.) Some other sisters are moving around but I don't think I've really mentioned any of them to you. If I end up in GJ 5th ward, I'll live like 3 doors down from the single's ward sisters though. Hahahaha. Who knows!!

Asked her if she wanted me to dig out her Christmas stocking (which I made years ago, it's a counted cross-stitch stocking based on The Nutcracker, which we love. I would love to have my stocking!! I'll mail it back to you post-Christmas :)

OH! So yesterday I bore my testimony, right? I started it off by saying "I'm Sister Noakes..." etc. ANYWAYS, after sacrament this lady I don't recognize comes up to me and asks me if I'm from Washington. I say yes and I'm trying to remember if I said that in my testimony or what. Hahaha. The next thing she asks is "Do you know Jen Throolin?" Immediately I go "YES! I love Sister Throolin!" This lady introduces herself as Lori Jacobson, and she just moved into 1st ward from 2nd ward, where the Throolins used to live. Apparently Sister Throolin told her to keep an eye out for a sister missionary named Sister Noakes from Kennewick. We talked for a couple of minutes and I am just amazed at our small Mormon world. The craziest part to me is that if they had started coming to this ward one Sunday later, they never would have met me or seen me! Timing is everything!

Love you!!!

These pictures are me and Kaleigh. Kaleigh is in 1st ward and is leaving for the Russia Vladivostok mission on January 1st! She's pretty awesome and has been coming out with us to lessons. (Kaleigh was also mentioned in the newspaper article in the Grand Junction Sentinel a couple of weeks ago.)

So, one of these is me and Angie and her roommate Melanie. (Angie has the long grey hair and Melanie has the long brown hair.)

Another is me and the Greens! They're the best. Brother Green is in the bishopric and we had dinner with them last night.

And the other is me and the Stacys. Brother Stacy is the EQ president and we've been teaching his family for practice like we were doing with the Beckers. Their kids are TOO CUTE. Parker, the one in glasses, just started passing the sacrament a couple of weeks ago and we love watching him do it in his little suit. Hahaha. Too cute.

A couple of pictures of me and the Beckers! Gotta love that family. Too adorable and sweet.

And me and Sister Larson!

(Sister Larson has taken the sister missionaries under her wing. I really appreciate her being a second mom to my sweet Sarah!) I'll miss Sister Larson too! But she'll always know what I'm up to since she's friends with you! She gave me some advice last night: 1) Look down when I walk (so I don't trip/fall) 2) Be careful on ice and 3) Marry the right person. Hahahaha. I just love the combination of advices.

Sarah and her companion, Sister Masima.

October 28, 2013 -- Email and Newspaper!

Hellooooooooooooooooooooooooo everyone!

So this week has been crazy and OF COURSE I forgot my journal so I'll really have to try and remember everything that happened. Hahaha.

Last Tuesday we had zone conference with 4 other zones! We had Elder David S. Baxter of the first quorum of the Seventy come! He's from Scotland so I obviously enjoyed myself. Hahaha. And it was wonderfully spiritual and I learned a ton! But the accent made it that much better. Plus, I got to see a bunch of my missionary friends! It was a lot of fun. Then on Wednesday we did some service for Mesa County Food Distribution, and we taught a newish investigator, Katrina, who is friends with the mom of the two children who got baptized this weekend.

Anyways, the most exciting part of Wednesday was this: Sister Masima and I had to go to the library because she had online training to do. As we're leaving, a lady in our ward stops us and asks if we would like to be interviewed for the article she's writing on younger missionaries. Of course we say yes and we also got the singles ward sisters and our elders in on it. So we all got interviewed Wednesday night and the article was in this Sunday's paper! I'm sending home a copy for you to look at and read and all that good stuff. On Thursday, we went on exchanges with the sister training leaders again. I went over to 9th ward with Sister Jones and it was a ton of fun! 9th ward covers Clifton and Palisade and it was SO WEIRD to not be in my area. Sister Masima and Hermana Bennett found 4 new investigators that day and Sister Masima and I have found 2 others this week as well. On Friday we taught one of those new investigators and got photographed for the paper. I also got a blessing from Brother Becker (ward mission leader) that day. Sister Jones told me I HAD to get one, as well as talk to him about if we have a ward mission plan and some other stuff. I love that blessing and I cried and it was great. I just love the Beckers SO MUCH. Anyways, this Sunday was this ward's primary program and it was definitely the cutest thing I have ever seen. Oh, and let's not forgot. This Saturday we had TWO BAPTISMS! Yay! Conner and McKayla got baptized and the baptismal service was so good. McKayla was crying before her baptism but afterwards she was really happy. HOORAY!

Sisters Noakes and Masima with Conner

Baptism kids Conner and McKayla with mom, grandpa, and uncle

I love you lots! This week was pretty wonderful and the work is getting better here. Now let's all pray that I don't go anywhere!

Sister Noakes

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/a-higher-mdash-and-increasingly-younger-mdash-call

Front page of GJ Sentinel, texted to Mom by Sister Larson

So we took these pictures last Monday at FHE at Melanie's. Across the back is me, Hermana White, Sister Masima, Hermana Gailey and Melanie. Across the front is Elder Jacobson, Sondra (with Oreo, the puppy), Hermana Arcia (who taught Sondra), Sister Caisey (her current companion, from Bermuda!), and Elder Austin.

Aren't the elders just little punks? Dumb Elders and their faces. Hahaha.

Book Cliffs (Mom note: There really are formations CALLED Book Cliffs! Just thought it was a street name ... heh.) and Mount Garfield, from when Sister Noakes was on exchanges.

Book Cliffs outside Grand Junction

 

Mount Garfield

 And Mom got a text from Sister Larson with this picture.