Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone! Sorry the email's a little late. The library was closed yesterday, so we had to come today instead. Christmas was excellent! Very different than usual....but excellent. We woke‑up very early and unwrapped presents before heading over to a member's home to open stockings with their family. We got there (at 7:00 a.m.) and there was stuff for S Larsen and I in our stockings!! They spoiled us so much. They are so great! We saw a lot of them this weekend because we helped them wrap presents the day before, and we came over after church while they opened presents. They just brought us in as part of their family.

So then we had both ward sacrament meetings. That ended at noon, and then we had "lunch" with the bishop's family and had a great time there. They have a tradition of eating waffles and ice cream on Christmas. They are an awesome family. Bishop reminds me a little bit of Dad, so I think that was comforting too! :) After that we went to one of our ward mission leader's homes and helped them put together some of their kids toys, and after that we had dinner with another family. It was so crazy! Dinner was delicious, after which we had a lesson and acted out the Nativity. I was the shepherd and their dog was my sheep (don't worry -- I had my pepper spray this time ;) We finished a little earlier than we'd planned, but worked on organizing the area book until it was time to call home!

I need to quickly sum up everything that happened this week! R. is now dated at Jan 8. We are working hard to get all the lessons done before then. She has only had Restoration, POS, and a chapel tour. There is a lot left to cover, and we found out that she can't meet with us until Saturday of this week! The hardest thing isn't necessarily teaching all the material in the time before her baptism, it's the commitments that make it hard. Imagine committing to the Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, Tithing, Fast Offerings, etc, all in one week. That's just overwhelming right? Wish us luck! I suppose a better request would be....pray for us please!!!

Next time I promise a cool story about how my knowledge of American Girl Dolls helped me in my missionary work. The follow‑up appointment is later today, so I want to be able to tell the whole story, not just the first half. Anyways I love you all! Thank you so much for everything you do! I pray for you all the time and think about how lucky I am to have such a great family!

Our Investigator of Three Days Wants to Be Baptized!

Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well. I can't believe I've been out two months! Today! Crazy, right?

We first taught our new investigator, R., on Friday. She is a friend of some fabulous members in our P-ville ward. They have prepared her so well! She already wants to be baptized . . . and on New Years Day! She wants to throw a huge party and invite all her friends to the baptism. We will be taking her on a chapel tour this Wednesday.

Do you remember my gloves that have a special little pocket for handwarmers? Well, I was wearing them at last week's coordination meeting because we'd been tracting right before. As we were leaving the meeting, Brother S. took my hand to shake it and suddenly got this shocked look on his face because I had this bulging, very hot bump on my hand. It was pretty funny!

The other day I woke up in the middle night praying. I was praying in my sleep -- how embarrassing! I guess there are worse things than praying in your sleep, but still. Thanks to all of you who have sent cards and packages. I have felt so loved and supported out here. It has really meant a lot to me.

Is that YOUR hat?

I have that line stuck in my head every day! [From the timeless classic, Girls in Pink.] Sister L. always asks if I've seen her hat, and of course that line pops in every time! :)

It has been an exciting week. I'm writing on Thursday instead of Monday this week because we went to the temple on Monday, which was great!

Sister L. and I have been trying to improve our companionship teaching skills. I'm afraid I'm not very good at it yet. I'm not very good at recognizing when she's "handing off the torch," so to speak. But that can only come with more practice, so we obviously need to find new investigators to teach in order to practice. I'm beginning to understand how important finding is -- and how hard it is! Boldness is one of our goals at the moment. Sometimes I'm completely comfortable being bold, but other times I'm just plain chicken. So we've been tracting, visiting former and part-member families, and trying to talk to all those we see. We're also working on earning member referrals. I've also begun to see how you truly have to "earn" referrals from members. It's understandable, though. They need to be able to trust us with their friends!

We had a fireside with Shawn Bradley! More details to come, but it was awesome! It was tricky arranging to get B. there, and then we had to find a way there as well. It was absolutely worth it, though . . . even if I did have to play the piano in front of hundreds of people. Our other investigator, Z., is doing well and we found three new investigators. That is, the zone leaders found three new investigators when they blitzed our area recently. I really wish I could go tracting with them and see their skills!

We experienced a pretty awesome miracle this week. We hadn't been able to contact B. for almost two weeks and were pretty worried about it. He didn't show up for church, which worried us even more. We had been tracting in P-ville and we had the feeling that we should visit this one less-active person. We drove down there, knocked on the door, and there was no answer. I was really bummed out! I was positive that the Spirit had told me to visit this person. We walked back to the car and were talking about what to do next when a school bus drove past. Then I heard huffing and puffing, and running footsteps behind me! I turned around and saw B. running towards us! I couldn't believe it! He had been on that school bus that passed by, saw us, got off at the next stop and had run a block and a half to catch us. Isn't that crazy cool? We had been trying to get hold of him for days. The timing was AWESOME.

The M-ville sisters want to take me on splits with them because apparently one of Grandma's relatives there asked a member in their ward about me. I'm not sure which relative it was -- I'll try to find out soon.

The Ohio winter is definitely coming on fast. Right now there's a temporary warm spell that will be over in a couple days. But last week I thought my fingers and toes would fall off -- it's sooooo cold! The biggest problem is that prime proselyting time is between 5-7:30, but the sun goes all the way down by 5:00 which means it suddenly becomes VERY cold then. Even though it's cold, I know I'm supposed to be here!

Crazy Week!

Hey everyone! It's been a crazy week! I don't have much time today -- sorry! Computer time runs out so fast -- an hour definitely isn't enough. Thank you all so much for the Thanksgiving notes. They really meant a lot to me. Thanks again for your love and support!

Now for the news: we went down to 0 investigators at the beginning of the week. B's baptism was scheduled for this past Saturday, but his mother didn't allow it to happen. There was a whole lot of mis-communication. Now we haven't talked to B in a while and he didn't come to church yesterday. It's the saddest experience ever!

A and K aren't picking up the phone or returning calls, either, and we want to be careful how we approach them so that even if they decide not to accept the gospel now, they might still listen to future missionaries when they are better prepared. I will let you know how that goes.

They Say the Toilets Flush Backwards Here

I hadn't noticed. Anyone care to check which way they flush back home? Seriously, though -- who notices that, anyway?

It has been a rough week, what with Thanksgiving away from family and problems with our investigators, but I have definitely learned a lot! Thanksgiving was good, though. We did service in the morning. The bishop of our L-ville ward has six young kids and was having some ward members over for dinner. We didn't know that at the time, but we felt like we should go to their house and help. We ended up staying a while -- right up until it was time to go to dinner with the R. family. We didn't do anything too big, just a lot of little things, but we could tell that it really helped and that felt good!

Dinner with the R. family was great! Their family is awesome and we actually taught a lesson in their home later that week. We love them. It was a little intimidating, though, because President N. and his family were also there. Everyone was very willing to participate so it wasn't too hard.

After the R. family we went to two more houses -- dinner at one and dessert at the other. Then we visited some less-active families and came home to do our Book of Mormon reading. We do five pages every night. It was sad not to be with my family, but I loved spending time with and serving my ward family.

The dog bite is doing very well. Sister L.'s is taking a longer time because it's on her heel, and it keeps opening back up when she walks. Mine is on my shin and is healing quite nicely.

The guy below us sings opera

Seriously, though. He does. So loud that the walls of our apartment vibrate! I think it's hilarious but Sister L. hates it. Yesterday he was singing an operatic version of "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow."

My sleep-talking has become a bit of a problem. Sister L. is a very light sleeper. And I mean VERY light sleeper. I have started praying that I won't sleep-talk. It worked for the first few days, but apparently Heavenly Father thinks it's important that I talk.

It was a rough week of canceled appointments and one of our investigators stood us up. It's all part of the experience, I suppose. K. and A. are doing well, though. We taught their cousin M. on Wednesday and they both sat in with us. I think it was a good review for them. We have another appointment with them on Wednesday. I think it will go well! K. is ready to be baptized; he just doesn't want to do it without A.

First P-Day in the "Field"

Hello everyone! It's been a crazy week since I last wrote! The flight was good; all the other missionaries slept but I couldn't. I talked to quite a few people so that was good. The president, his wife and the two assistants were waiting for us at the airport. It had been a long day; I'm sure we were a sorry sight! But we loaded up the luggage and headed to the mission home, which is quite a place. The sisters slept in upstairs rooms and the whole basement is beds for the elders. There are literally 18 beds down there! We had dinner with the president and his family, and shared some of our MTC experiences. We had a testimony meeting while the president interviewed us all individually. We had a good chat! He has a very impressive aura . . . I don't really know how to explain it. He speaks for the Lord!

President N. has a life-sized Yoda statue in his house. It's to illustrate his motto: "Do or do not. There is no try." I have learned quickly that I never say "I will try" to the President!

The next day I met my new companion, Sister L. We have two areas, L-ville and P-ville. Our first assignment was to deliver a Book of Mormon to a lady who had requested one from Church headquarters. She was surprised that we had delivered it in person (she had expected to receive it in the mail), but she was excited and invited us in. Her husband was also there. We taught them about the Restoration and gave them each a Book of Mormon; then I challenged them both to baptism and they said YES! I was pretty excited as you can imagine! They (A. & K.) invited us back for the next lesson and dinner on Saturday night. President N. shared this story in stake conference yesterday! How embarrassing! Sister L. says that he does that kind of thing all the time; we are in his ward so he knows our stories best.

We had to drop a couple of investigators who weren't keeping commitments. That was hard! Time is precious, especially when it's the Lord's time. And when there are people like A. & K. out there waiting for the truth, we need the time to go out and find them.

The dog story . . . we were on our way to dinner with the W. family on Sunday and had some extra time so we went tracting. My first time! No success at the doors and at the last one we got attacked by a big dog. I was turning as it bit me and was wearing tights, so my wound isn't too much to worry about. Although it does hurt, especially in the cold weather. But poor Sister L. got it pretty bad. After it bit me it ran at her, grabbed her heel and pulled her to the ground. I was in shock -- mostly at seeing my companion pulled to the ground by a dog -- but also because I never really believed this could happen. But it did! We went to the W.'s house; Brother W. gave us a blessing and Sister W. drove us to the Dublin Hospital. We went to the ER and stayed there the rest of the evening. We had to cancel and appointment which was sad, and we didn't get home until around 10:30. Sister W. stayed with us the whole time and was an angel!

Sister Chew Toy

Sister Bham and her companion were bitten by a dog today, less than a week after J. arrived in Columbus. Some kind ward members gave them each a blessing and drove them to the hospital. They said the wound was superficial, thankfully. They also emailed us this picture via iphone. I hope Sister Bham's guardian angel is a big, buff dude with lots of endurance and stamina!

Airport phone call

We got a phone call from Sister B. this morning at about 9:30 our time. She was calling during her layover in Phoenix. The MTC travel office neglected to tell her that their departure time and airline had changed, but luckily they were at the SLC airport early enough to sort it all out and made their flight by the skin of their teeth! She should be in Columbus by now!

I leave tomorrow! Craaaazy!

Hey all! Since we leave for Ohio tomorrow, I'm taking a few minutes to send out an email. I have no idea when my new preparation day will be. I will keep you posted. I'm crazy nervous but also super excited! We leave tomorrow at 4:00 a.m. I'm the travel leader so I have to get us there! It should be simple . . . but some of the people in my group are pretty boisterous!

Lauren asked if MTC Media has been harassing me. The answer is a resounding YES! They have been harassing me at every moment possible. There is always at least one camera on me during large meetings, if not more. In the new sisters' slide presentation they usually show a guy with steam coming out of his head (indicating that he's stressed out). Well, Media changed it to be a slide of me with steam coming out of my head! So last week I'm sitting there in new sisters' meeting and suddenly there I am, on the screen. I was soooo embarrassed! It's now hilarious, but at the time everyone looked at me and I just leaned over and tried to hide. Oh and don't worry -- they were recording my reaction! Now all the sisters call me Sister Steamhead. Tonight's devotional is the last big meeting I will have to endure! Hooray!

Another funny story: I apparently teach in my sleep. Many lessons . . . in my sleep. My roommates are really good about it! [As long as she stays IN her bed while she's teaching in her sleep. Mom.]

The other day our teacher was telling us about our first day in the field; he said we would be tracting. He said they would designate a rendez-vous time and place, then just turn us loose. I thought to myself, "So I could just go hide and then come back at the appointed time?" Small problem . . . I accidentally said it out loud. Yep, the whole class looked at me and busted up laughing. Oh well . . . they're going to find out how chicken I am sooner or later.

Companion story: Sister R. has this thing about defying everyone. She's as stubborn as heck! (We LOVE her!) However, we're trying to teach the elders in our district that they should do nice things for us, like hold the door and return our lunch trays in the cafeteria. But Sister R. likes to hold the doors & collect lunch trays before anyone else can do it. It's become a battle of wills! On Monday my will won; I held her tray to the table and asked the elders to subdue her. They just looked at me and I realized that obviously they couldn't grab her. So I quickly solved the problem. How, you might ask? I took a leaf out of Mom's book and sat on her. Then I asked Elder N. to take her tray. It was magic! Ironically Sister R. loves me even more now ... go figure!

The last hurrah

The day I went to breakfast in my slippers

I know none of you will be surprised when I tell you that Sister R. and I were half way to breakfast on Monday when I realized how warm and comfortable my feet felt. I looked down and saw that I was still wearing my pink slippers! We didn't go back to our room to change them, though, because I figured that no one would notice at breakfast. FALSE! Everyone noticed. All of the elders were laughing it up when I got to the table. I was so embarrassed -- I have been trying to be more dignified here so that only people who really know me, know how ridiculous I truly am!

Sister R. and I have had our room all to ourselves since last Wednesday. It has been splendid! We both spread our stuff out a lot. We had to clean up a bit this morning because we have four new sisters coming in.

Side note: The Harry Potter references haven't stopped, although I reserve them for P-day and the cafeteria. I have also impressed a few elders with my extensive LOTR knowledge. Your doing, of course, Mom and Dad. I give you all the credit!

I love to see the temple

A quick Lortab story . . .

Julia's been cracking her district up with the silly things she says while under the influence of her pain medication. The other day she called her district leader "Dumbledore." The young man was undaunted, however; he responded instantly and with a straight face: "That's ELDER Dumbledore to you."

Hey, hey! First Preparation Day!

Hello lovely family! I'm having a hard time with Elder Bham gone! Sister R. and I got up super early this morning to surprise him & see him off. He was definitely surprised! But now I'm having the hardest time. I was so used to seeing him sauntering into the cafeteria every day (our meal times overlapped a bit). It was a great comfort to me while I was feeling so vulnerable. Being handed off at the curb from family to family made it so much easier.

So yeah! Life is good! For those who haven't heard -- yes, I fractured my patella Sunday night. I fell off the top bunk. I don't know how I got over the guard rail! I woke up as I was falling. I landed on my knee and walked on it for a full day before I gave in and went to the health center. The inflammation has gone down and it feels practically normal except for the carpet burn over my whole knee. But the x-ray showed a fracture so I have to go to an orthopedist tomorrow.

Otherwise, things are going well -- although the crutches make things a bit difficult. I can't feel my arms but I'm learning so much! We had our first positive feedback from our teacher, Sister M. Teachers normally don't give us any feedback at all, but she chased us down after class to tell us that we did really well. I was so happy! Sister R. and I have been trying so hard!

Sister Crutchie

Well, Sister Bham broke her kneecap last night at the MTC! The story is that she was playing rugby for gym time but she actually fell off the top bunk in her sleep. All we know so far is that it's a hairline fracture; we'll find out the rest of the prognosis on Thursday. Meanwhile she's on pain meds and crutches, and doing as well as can be expected. Thanks for your love and prayers!

It's a family affair

A-A-And she's off!

Sister Bham was set apart as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Tuesday, October 18 and reported to the Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, October 19. You'll never guess who her curbside host was!

Welcome!

Hello everyone! Welcome to my somewhat new blog! Mom is going to post my relevant emails/letters while I'm away! 1.5 more days!