I'm ALWAYS praying for missionary experiences

Hello, lovely people!

This week was quite eventful. :) Tell Chase that I'm ALWAYS praying for missionary experiences. haha That's my LIFE now! 
I'm glad that things at home are going well! I still haven't received any letters from my family... What's that all about? haha. I get letters AND emails from everyone else but you guys. ;)


Monday was P-Day- as usual. I love all of the emails that I'm getting! It's nice to know that people still remember me... haha! Keep 'em comin'! :)
Sister Perrin (my second mother haha) took us to Gordman's and I ended up buying some Boise State moccasins. I couldn't buy a shirt because I knew I'd never wear it. That would be against all the BYU-Idaho pride I have inside of me. So I bought shoes- to signify me always stepping on Boise State. (I thought I was pretty funny.) And that night, we went to go have FHE with the Bell family. (That's a new thing that I started in the ward. Monday nights are SO hard to find people to teach. So we sent around a sign up to have FHE with families. It gives them an opportunity to invite non-members/less actives/struggling youth.) We gave a lesson on "CPR for the Soul"- Church, Prayer, Reading Scriptures. It was so much fun and the kids LOVED it! Afterwards, we played play-dough pictionary- such a fun family activity!

Tuesday we had exchanges! And, of course, everything got confused. Haha. Our Sister Training Leader is actually a Spanish speaking missionary. I was supposed to go with her 2 companions (they're a trio) and she was supposed to come here to Kuna with Sister Happy. Yeah, well, we got that mixed up. haha So she came with me instead! Sister Turner (the STL) was so much fun! I love Sister Happy- but it was nice to be able to talk to someone without having to talk really slow, explain what words mean, and help them have conversations with people. haha Man, I love my companion. I'm definitely learning patience! (Can you tell?) 
We visited with Grandpa again- he ended up giving us the entire plan of salvation lesson. What a chatterbox! He is so funny. But we love visiting with him every week. And he told us that he really appreciates it. So it will continue! :) And afterwards we went and helped a widowed woman in the ward with her garden. (Yes, again in our skirts... when will I learn?) Okay people... I do NOT know how to work in a garden. I have NO idea what I'm doing. haha I guess I'll come home with a new talent though! For dinner that night, we went to the Perrin's. :) They knew that Sister Happy was going to be gone that night because of the exchanges, so they made me HAMBURGERS AND NACHOS!!!! YAY YAY YAY!!!! It was the BEST dinner I've had in a LONG LONG LONG time. *sigh* I'm still thinking about it. haha

Wednesday was pretty uneventful. Not much happened- other than I woke up with terrible shoulder pain. Ouch! But what else is knew in my life? haha

We helped someone move- we started out unpacking books but were then delegated to pulling weeds, don't know how that happened. But it was fun! And then we went over a member's house to do service- but then we just helped her make dinner instead. Which is still service! haha We didn't get to eat the dinner though... Bummer. It was tacos.

Thursday was HILARIOUS. We had dinner at the koala house. (I have pictures!) Yay Koalas! 

Everyone here has made us stuffed crescent rolls... I don't know when they became so popular. But they're good! (Aaaaaand... now I'm realizing that a majority of this email has been about what I've eaten. See what my life has become?! This is surely an email for Nana to read.) 

We met with Lyle that night (I don't know if I've mentioned him before...). Lyle is less active, and has been for 20+ years. He has Parkinson's disease, which makes it nearly impossible to him to sit and talk with us for longer than 20-30 minutes at a time. It's hard to watch him constantly be in pain and not be able to do anything about it. Lyle and his wife, Tami, just got back together after being separated for a few months. Their goal is to start coming back to church and then to be sealed in the temple! They are so in love. We visited them after they had gotten back together- ALL SMILES! :)

We also met with Dave that night as well. He is doing AWESOME! He's been coming to church every week. We finished giving him all of the discussions. And he's cut down on his coffee by half! He's started meeting with the Bishop about preparing to go to the temple to be sealed to his wife. He is AMAZING! And he's really pushing hard to do whatever he needs to to get there. :)

Friday was our last district meeting before transfers. We visited, took pictures, had a bbq (with hamburgers- yum). 

Here's a picture of Sister Anderson and I at our combined district BBQ. She's the ONE other Sister in the mission from South Carolina. We're best buddies. haha (Well, I think so.)

Aaaaaand.... Guess who I saw today! Sister Tyler!

It's so true that as soon as you get comfortable, everything changes! That afternoon, as we were home for dinner, I caught Sister Happy trying to make a grilled cheese sandwich... OH NO! haha She buttered both sides of the bread (lotsssss of butter) and put them on the pan at the same time. I caught her just before she was about to put the cheese straight on the pan! haha. I then told her that you're supposed to put the cheese on the bread for it to melt. So, she warmed up her bread, took it off the pan, placed the cheese in the middle... and pretty much just ate a cold cheese sandwich with toasted bread. haha! "When you made it, it was so good!" Nice try, Sister Happy! 

I spent most of the day trying to help Sister Happy with her talk. She's still really nervous about speaking in English. So I would read it, reread it. Add in words and change words. Help her think of things to write about. It took a long time.... But I was glad to help. She did great. :)

Saturday we received transfer calls! Sister Happy: Staying! Sister Gubler: Staying! Yep, we'll be in Kuna for at least another 6 weeks- until May 10th.
But, wait! There's more! We are becoming a trio! (Say what?!) We're not so sure how we feel about that... But we'll make it work. Our new companion will surely be great.

                                       Sister Happy and I with our new companion, Sister Keyser!

(I just got back from picking up our new companion, Sister Keyser. She didn't get to email today, and Happy and I missed about 30 minutes of email time to come pick her up- so we came back. :)  )

ANDDDDD WE GET A CAR!!! A CAR! A CAR! A CAR! A CAR! We are SO excited about that! We're going to be so much more productive now- and the members are sure happy that they won't have to drive us everywhere, all the time anymore. We should be getting the car sometime this week. :) Prayers have been answered! Saturday we also went over to the Bell's house and helped them organize/clean. They just moved into their house in November (it was a really fast move), so they're still trying to get things in the right places. And they are so great at always having nonmember friends over at their house when we come to give a spiritual thought or do an FHE. So we decided to say "thank you" by organizing their pantry, closets, garage, etc. :)

And then the FIRST EVER General Womens Meeting was that night! Okay- can I just say- that was the BEST MEETING EVER. We hasn't even sang the opening song yet and the spirit was just like, WHOOSH! LET'S MAKE SISTER GUBLER CRY! It was so powerful. Music invites the spirit so quickly! When the 8-11 year olds stood and sang "Teach Me to Walk in the Light", and then the older sisters joined in on the second verse, it was so powerful. We were watching it at the stake center, and there was not a dry eye in the building. It's so beautiful how so many sisters, of all ages, were gathered together to learn. My favorite thing in the meeting was, well, several things:

1. WOMEN NEED EACH OTHER. It's true. We do. We need other women to talk to, to learn from, to comfort and support us. I loved how President Eyring said that, "[we] are more alike as daughters of God than [we] are different". That's so true! There is an unbreakable bond between sisters. And I don't have any sisters in my family- so I love that I can have sisters through the gospel.

2. THE BEST WAY TO STRENGTHEN YOUR FAMILY IS TO KEEP YOUR COVENANTS. It's true, too! Through keeping our covenants, we can receive blessings for ourselves, and also our families. And also, through keeping our covenants, we can be an example to our children of how to live. I don't remember who said it... but they mentioned that we need to raise our children in covenant keeping homes. Loved that.

3. THERE IS NO AGE BARRIER WHEN IT COMES TO CHRISTLIKE SERVICE. This is also SO TRUE! We all can learn and grow from each other- whether we are 8 or 80. I loved the story about the 80 year old Mia Maid advisor- I feel like that will be me one day. The young people will help me stay "hip" and "with the times". But it reminded me that I need to reach out more to those that are older and younger than me. We are all daughters of God, and Sisters. We need to strengthen each other.

And then Sunday. Man. This week seemed much longer than the others.
We both spoke in sacrament, and I sang as well. That was a little weird. I've never done both on the same week. But it worked out fine- and we received a lot of compliments from members of the ward. :)
Afterwards we went to gospel principles- where Kassi (I talked about her before... but I misspelled her name and wrote "Cassie") and her boyfriend, Andy, stayed the whole time! It was great! We pulled in couples from the ward to sit in the class so that they wouldn't feel awkward as the only students. haha. But the lesson was on Adam and Eve, the Fall, and agency. Kassi participated a TON and really enjoyed the class and also the people that were in there. We found out that they are going to General Conference next week with a family in the ward- WOOT! And, while we were at church, I gave her a list of scriptures about Jesus Christ to study (she had previously told me that she didn't really know anything about Christ)- to which she teared up and gave me a HUGE hug and said "thank you". I didn't know it would mean that much to her, but she continued to show everyone the list and hold it like I had given her a $500 necklace. We went over and taught Kassi again that night. Previously, Andy hasn't participated in any lessons. He'd leave the room and come back to give her looks that said, "I want to leave." But she'd always ignore him. Andy is a member, but hasn't stepped foot in a church since he was 17. But he sat in for half of the lesson this time! He asked a ton of questions that he's had his whole life- mostly deeper doctrine (evolution, angels, resurrected beings, how there are 3 Nephites walking around, you have to play "patty cake" before you can get into heaven... haha I tried not to laugh about some of them.) But we were so happy that he was open about his concerns and realized that we don't know the answers to everything. :) But we taught Kassi about the plan of salvation and she LOVED the fact that God gives us millions of chances to be happy. She said that the plan gives her greater purpose in life. I asked her if she's read the Book of Mormon and prayed about the things that we've taught her. She said that she's been praying a LOT lately ( and has been receiving a million blessings from Heavenly Father) and she can't even get through a full prayer without getting a HUGE smile and saying to herself: "You KNOW this is true!" Kassi studied world religions in college- she knows a lot about a lot of different beliefs. But she told us that she's never found a religion that has touched her heart so personally as this has. She told us that she finds so much strength in knowing that she is a daughter of God- and has even written it on her mirror at home! What a great example! After hearing all this... I was just... AH! It was awesome! I asked her if she would be baptized- AND SHE SAID YES! We're aiming for May 10th- but there's a lot that needs to happen before that point. But she really wants us to be the missionaries at her baptism. :) She said that she loves how, when we talk, everything is so exciting! And I told her, "That's because the gospel is SO exciting! Heavenly Father loves us and we are His children! How could someone not want to hear about it?"
Kassi is inspiring. She pushes me to be a better person and to call upon Heavenly Father for everything that I do. She prayed for us, for the first time, at the end of our lesson and, oh boy, the spirit was so strong. I'm so excited for her. This is the first step to something great in her life!


(This greenie ain't doin' too bad!)

Love,
Sister Gubler 

I was tired of looking at our mormon.org cards and Book of Mormons sitting in boxes... so I got creative! :)

Before you come on your mission, learn to love everyone.

Fefe hake?! How are you?!

This week was... quite uneventful. But full of American food! Because, well, I got to cook for myself. haha.

Let's start off with Monday.
That was P-Day... and I wrote you an email. Pretty exciting. 
But after we emailed, we went to get lunch at Panda Express (kind of American food? haha) with a pair of Sisters from our district- Sister Bailey (from Alabama) and Sister Anderson (from South Carolina). While we were there, a very kind gentleman payed for our meals! It was a new concept to me. I always knew that people payed for missionaries when they saw them. But I'm still not used to the fact that I'M a missionary and that people are looking out for ME. It was so wonderful of him. Especially since missionaries don't have that much money to spend. But after Panda, we went to Walmart and got the weeks necessities. I chose to also buy a binder and sheet protectors, so that I can start safely keeping all of the letters people write to me. :) And we had a zone activity at the church where we had a great game of volleyball! Sister Anderson and I spent most of that time just talking and getting to know one another- it's awesome to know someone from your home area! And she also attended BYU-Idaho before she came out a few months before me. Yay for new friends!

Tuesday:
Sister Happy-Happy had a terrible cold. She could barely move... Man, when that Sister gets sick, she gets SICK. It was really sad. So we stayed home. She slept and I studied... ALL DAY. But it was amazing because I didn't get bored or tired. Being a missionary has made me appreciate the time that I have to study and learn about my Savior, Jesus Christ and about His gospel. :) While Sister Happy-Happy was sick, I made her a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. She had never had one before! They don't have a lot of cheese in Tonga (it's SUPER expensive). So, when I made it, she thought it was the coolest concept ever! "You can butter the bread? And melt the cheese inside?! That's so awesome!" haha It was sweet. I'm happy that I could make Sister Happy- Happy happy. (Too many "happy"'s in that last sentence!) I also taught Sister Happy new words like "totes cray-cray" and "awk" and "yolo"... They are her new favorite words. She thinks that they're great! haha Let's hope that she doesn't use them in a lesson!
Later, Sister Happy was feeling better. We taught Danny that night- and his mom, Jackie, came along! They're from Idaho Falls, where Jackie worked for a doctor (dentist?) that was LDS. The doctor (or dentist) did an awesome job of sharing the gospel with her and Danny. He gave her a Book of Mormon and took time to sit and read with her. He invited her and her family over to FHE with his family each Monday :) She started to have the missionaries over for meals, where they would share little spiritual messages. But she hasn't had any formal lessons. But her and Danny recently lost a member of their family, and love the concept that families can be together forever. We taught them about the restoration- to which they committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. Interesting thing though- Danny can't read well, at all. So we got him the Book of Mormon on CD. They said that they were going to listen to it while they were on a road trip to Arizona. Man, the spirit was SO awesome in the lesson! But, oh my goodness, I HAVE to tell you. So, my companion just finishes telling the first vision and I pick up after that point in time talking about how "Jesus Christ instructed Joseph Smith that none of these churches were true..." and all of a sudden, Danny's face gets SUPER red and his eyes tear up and his whole body just tightens. And I'm thinking, "This is awesome! He totally feels the spirit!!!" But after a little bit... I realize that he's in PAIN! What?! My comp asks him if he's okay.... He BIT HIS TONGUE and was crying in pain. Oh goodness. haha! But we're excited to meet with them again. They have awesome testimonies!

Wednesday:
We had a training meeting for all of the new missionaries who came out in the last transfer. Yay! Reunion with all of my MTC buddies! :D And I got to see Sister Tyler again- she's still my best friend. 

We sat together and shared experiences about our missions so far and how much we missed being companions. It was amazing to be able to see her. What a gem. 
But, long story short, I'm so grateful that I have my companion. There are so many missionaries who have issues with getting along with their companion, and it leads to a lot of other problems... LOVE THEM. Serve them. That's all I can say. Before you come on your mission, learn to love everyone.
I got the 3 CD's that you sent me! They're great! I love them. :)
While at the missionary training, I was asked to sing on a CD that they're making for the Idaho Nampa Mission. I'm so excited. :) And I'm so happy that Sister Cannon asked me to do that. They should be recording in a couple of weeks!
We went back and visited with "Grandpa"! He let us do service for him- cleaning his house and cleaning things in his garage. Once again, I was lifting heavy equipment in my dress... I don't know why I never change into my service clothes. Guess I never feel the need. I can be just as effective in my dress. But, anyways, I was helping him to lift a large drill into the back of his truck and I BROKE MY WATCH. I was so sad! It still works. But there's a large crack in the corner. Bummer. 
But he has a neighbor that came over to chat while we were there. We didn't talk about the gospel too much- just introduced ourselves. He makes signs out of wood for people- and he told us to come over at any time. Don't mind if we do! haha! But if we have to spend $100 on his signs for him to listen to the lessons- Mom, Dad, I hope you don't mind. But I'll spend that money! haha

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday:
Sister Happy-Happy got the flu. :( So, more studying and sitting and thinking... all while she slept the days away. 
While I was at home, I was looking in my Preach my Gospel, and decided to study getting over addictions. It's something that a lot of people struggle with and I just don't understand it... So I decided to try and experiment. I was going to pick a habit that I have, something that I do ALL THE TIME that I don't even think about, and I was going to STOP doing it. So I picked popping my knuckles. Well, popping anything. For those that know me... they know that I do it ALL THE TIME. Like, a lot. And I don't even think about it. It's just natural.
But I was going to go 1 week without doing it. I was so determined! And then I said "START!"
...yeah. I popped my knuckles after 1 minute. NOOOO!!! I was SO MAD! And I kept doing it throughout the entire day! I probably did it about 30-40 times. GRRR!! I'm still working on it. I haven't even made it 1 day yet. And I kept getting so mad at myself for doing it, even though I knew I wasn't supposed to.
It was something so simple- popping my knuckles. It's not going to ruin my eternal salvation. It's not going to ruin my health and make me die. It's something so simple- and yet, I got so upset when I did it! I can only imagine how much heartache and difficulty one must go through when trying to get over an addiction.
For those that are- know that my heart goes out to you. I love you. I'm working with you! Don't give up. I'm not giving up. And neither should you.
For those that don't have an addiction- try the experiment with me. Through gaining a better understanding, you may be able to better help others that are struggling.

Sunday was stake conference. Yay! Sister Happy was finally feeling better. The topic was "hastening the work of salvation". Loved it! But the thing that I got out of it wasn't about missionary work- it was something else.
A youth got up and talked about "how she has been a positive influence in her home". I thought it was great! Every now and again, it's good to look at ourselves and think, "How am I doing?" Not look at yourself and think of how awesome and great you are compared to others. But to look, in humility, at the good that you are doing in your home- and also what you could work on.
We then went to lunch at a ward members house. Steak and potatoes. Good eatin'. haha! But... I just have to say... no one can top the steak that the Tolman's made for me. That was the BEST STEAK I have EVER tasted. 
And, for dinner, we went to a ward members house again. haha So much food! But we played an awesome game- the one where you have the card on your forehead and you have to guess what it says by asking yes/no questions. It was awesome. And I won. :D

Can I issue everyone a challenge? It's probably something that you already do- and, if so, great! But I would love if everyone started doing a "Missionary Monday". Every Monday post on facebook/twitter/instagram something about the church. It can be a scripture, testimony, picture, quote, ANYTHING. It's just something simple. But start planting seeds!

I love you all! Have another great week! (Can you believe I've been on my mission for 48 days?! Crazy!)

Love,
Sister Gubler

Here are some pictures! 
A lot of the ward members INSIST on giving us eggs every time we go over... I don't eat eggs. Haha 
Another of us playing the forehead game. :)
Oh... the selfie. haha! I cut my own hair! :D My bangs were wayyyy too long, my comp was sleeping (so she couldn't stop me), and I was bored... So I grabbed the scissors and cut off about 3-4 inches. It turned out pretty well. :)
My broken watch... you can barely see it.
And look at my friend that I met at zone conference! You've seen Cast Away. :)

"A minister, a priest, and a missionary...."

Hello Family and Friends (who are practically family!)

Fefe hake?! How are you?! Yes, I'm still learning Tongan. Pretty exciting stuff. But let me just say, I never want to eat Hawaiian/Tongan food EVER AGAIN. For the REST OF MY LIFE. The members here are awesome- and feed us great meals. But they know that my companion feels homesick, so they make her Tongan food every. day. People! I'M not Tongan! I want AMERICAN food! Bleh. But my companion hates hamburger and mexican food... Pretty much my two favorite things. It's quite disappointing. But (as you can tell) I'm not too torn up about the situation. hahahaha! *Mom, that was sarcasm. I'm pretty upset about it.*

A note to Mom: As I've been teaching people and getting to know them, one of my investigators asked me if my family was all LDS. And I told her about how you are a convert to the church and how your side of the family aren't members. She was really curious about your story... But I didn't know what your story was. Other than that you were baptized at.... 18? I'm sure that your story is quite personal (as every conversion is). But would you mind writing me and telling me your story? I'd love to read it.  Also, can you send me Nana and Papa's address? And... Okay. This is a little weird. But do you know this restaurant called "The Poodle Dog" in Federal Way? I talked to this lady in the ward about how I was born in Washington and she was pretty upset about how I didn't know that place (she grew up there). But she's SUPER old, so it might be gone by now- but she's INSISTED that I ask you about it. Yeahhh. haha

Each week, we have appointments with members and help them get closer to going through the temple. What a heart wrenching thing... I would never want to be a Bishop. People have major struggles in their lives. And as I get close to them, and love them, and try to help them become worthy to go inside those temple doors.... My heart just breaks when they slip and fall along the way. Mom and Dad, you know what I'm talking about. All throughout my life, I've been around people that have slipped and fallen and I've been put in their path when they're trying to get back up. I don't know why the Lord puts these people in my path, or puts me in theirs. But I hope that He trusts me enough to allow me to continue to try and help His children.

Tuesday was zone conference. No one came to speak to us- so don't get too excited. But I did sing! I sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" to the tune of "Come Thou Fount". I don't know if I told you that already. But it was awesome to be able to sing again. :) Man, I miss it so much. And I was supposed to sing in church yesterday, but my accompanist had to go out of town. So I'll be singing in church on the 30th- and also speaking! haha! The missionaries are taking over sacrament meeting! We've been asked to speak on the restoration and how it applies to us in the latter days- while pulling in missionary work. NEWSFLASH PEOPLE! Missionary work is EVERYTHING! Oh my goodness. I've gotten so passionate about sharing the gospel, it's probably become a huge flaw in my personality. haha. I'm becoming like a young, woman version of Elder Holland. (But he's totally awesome, so I'm okay with that.)
But I learned something great at zone conference! (Imagine that!) Two things actually. President Cannon gave us all a copy of a talk given at the MTC in 2000 by Elder Holland called, "Teach the Atonement". I've been really struggling out here on my mission and been praying for relief- and Elder Holland directly addressed my issue. He talked about, to be good servants/disciples of Jesus Christ, we must all go through our own personal Garden of Gethsemane. It was really interesting. I'll mail you a copy of the talk- share it with the boys. It's amazing- and I can't really put it into words how much it touched me. But from that talk, I also learned that through our suffering and sacrifice, we can feel a greater love for others. When we have that love, we will have a desire to work and put forth effort. Through our efforts, we are showing and growing our faith. And through our faith- we perform miracles. Just like it says in Ether 12:6. 

Just a quick side note: Why do people INSIST on giving missionaries advice on how to do their calling? Just let the missionaries do their work! (That's all I'm going to say about another run-in that happened this week.)

So, you're probably wondering about my little "joke" in the subject line. :) This week, we had dinner with a family in the ward. The night before we came over, they had actually invited some people (who had recently become homeless) to come and stay with them for a few days. Well, this homeless family consisted of a man, woman, and their daughter- and the man is a NAZARENE MINISTER. He's been a minister for 30+ years. Yeah, you can imagine where this is going. haha! Long story short, we finish dinner and it comes time to share a message. So I pull out my Book of Mormon and the minister guy just gets all tense and STARES at the book. (WHOA DUDE. It's gonna be okay.) But we ask if we can share a message, and they agree. So I share a quick and easy message from Alma 7:11 about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Okay, that's an easy one. They're Nazarene. They believe in the Atonement. Yeah, well... I share that scripture and bear my testimony of the atonement, and then close. And this minister starts saying... "You know, that reminds me of a scripture in Jeremiah that says... and a scripture in Isaiah that says... Do you know those scriptures?" And I respond with "Yes, those are great scriptures. Isn't the atonement such a blessing?" And he starts going off on a tangent. haha! Well, at the end of his preaching I say, "Would you like a Book of Mormon?" And he looks deeeeeeeeep into my soul and says, "Ya know what? I already have one." *shudders* I ask if he's read it and what he thought of it. And he starts going off on the Book of Mormon and blah blah blah. And I just say, "You know, at least you read it!" And then we have a prayer and leave. HAHAHA! Funniest thing ever. I wish you were all there. But after we left, the family from the ward told us (the next day) that the Nazarene family started asking all sorts of questions about the church! WHAT?! It was so crazy! 

We taught Dave again on Thursday- and he's really getting excited about going to the temple! He's been reading his scriptures, praying, and going to church! He lives everything that he needs to... except for a slight word of wisdom problem. But he's so close! He's going to start meeting with the Bishop soon and attending the temple prep classes. :) Yay! Go Dave!

Another quick side note (sorry, I write as things come to my mind): As missionaries, all that we eat is ramen. Ramen, ramen, and more ramen. So, it's 10 am and we are downstairs eating (you guessed it) RAMEN. And Sister Minert comes downstairs to talk to us and says, "YOU POOR GIRLS! You're eating Ramen for breakfast?! What's wrong with you?!" And then, without letting us say anything, she runs upstairs and then comes back down with a bowl of fruit and protein bars. Bless her. She was sent from Heaven. But... really... I was just wanting Ramen at 10 am  So I ate the ramen anyway.
Another food note: I've grown to love sweet potatoes. A lot. Baked in olive oil and garlic salt. YUM. I like them more than normal potatoes. :)

One night, after dinner with a member, we tried to go and visit some people- and of course no one was home. But we went over to a less active's house (Ted and Nora) because we hadn't contacted them yet. He's LA and she's not a member. And everyone has told us that they'd never let us talk to them. But, hey, why not try? We visited with Nora at the door, and she was nice but not interested- but she took 3 pamphlets! haha! And we found out that they still have our number (we had left it on a pass along card on their door). Yay! And, just as we were leaving, Ted pulled up- so we stopped to talk to him (as he smoked a nasty cigarette). He has a strong testimony of God speaking to his children and believes that God has blessed him with the gift of helping (he listens to promptings from the spirit). He knows that things happen for a reason, and he said that he knew that we showed up at that time for a reason (he was really mad at his brother and was about to disown him- but changed his mind after talking to us). He admitted that he had questions about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith- and he accepted our invitation to come back over and talk with him about those questions! But, of course, they're moving soon. Bummer. At least we're planting a seed in their hearts!!

Haley was at church on Sunday! Her Dad let her go! yay!

Let me tell you about our new investigators: Danny and Jackie! Danny is 18, and Jackie is his Mom. They moved here from Idaho Falls so that Danny could have his senior year here in Kuna. He has a football scholarship to play at a little college in Arizona. (Not sure which one- he couldn't remember. haha!) Danny is autistic (so, of course, I love him). He's so excited about the gospel and comes to church BY HIMSELF. And his mom does too! They don't come with members or with an invitation. They just come! It's awesome! We're teaching them on Tuesday night. :) I'm so excited!

We taught Cassie again on Sunday! She is AMAZING! We taught her about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and prayer. The spirit was definitely there! That was the most I've felt it in a lesson while here on my mission. Cassie was just sobbing the entire lesson... She knows that it's all true! We just have to help her realize that's what she's feeling. She shared with us experiences in her life where she knows that God has been watching over her. She knows that she has a greater purpose here on this Earth. She is so great! And we'll be teaching her again next week. :) YAY YAY YAY! She's getting close to baptism! I can smell the water coming from the font right now!

That's pretty much everything that's happened this week. Exciting things! Miracles are happening! 
I hope you are enjoying my emails home--- cause I sure enjoy writing them. I love and miss you all! I'm sorry if I don't reply to everyone's emails or letter s in a very timely manner. I don't have a lot of time. But I'll try my best to get back to you- even if it's short. :)

--Sister Gubler

This is me and Sister Happy with our investigator Haley! She's the one with the "believe" shirt. :) the other girl is from the ward. :)

Malo e lelei! Hello!

Malo e lelei! Hello!

I hope everyone is doing well back at home! And that the weather isn't as rainy there as it is here. The members here have been praying and fasting for rain (they all own land and really depend on the moisture) and it has been POURING. Great for them- terrible for us. Haha! But, luckily, this ward is AWESOME at giving us rides around the area. (Which is also terrible for my weight... I'm getting so fat. Bleh.) This ward is getting more and more excited about missionary work! The work is hastening! And miracles are happening!

We have CD players/radios in the cars. It's not the olden days anymore. ;) And we also have a CD player in our apartment. So, yes, CD's would be appreciated. :)
I haven't really gotten over my sickness yet. I'm definitely able to function- but my nose is still stuffy all the time. But that's okay. I can work through that.
You can take the names out if you want. It's okay since I only put their first names and you didn't post the ward name on the blog. No one should be able to find them.
Sundays are.... a breath of fresh air. And they are over much too quickly. If I could live in the church building, I would. 

I've learned quite a few words in Tongan from my companion (as shown above haha). Who knows- maybe I'll come home and bear my testimony in Tongan- my new mission language. Haha! Yeah, like that'll happen.

I think I'll take this letter day by day...

Monday:
So, this was last P-Day- and I sent you an email that morning. But something awesome happened that night. My comp and I were sitting at home after we had finished eating dinner that a family had bought for us. And we were going through the ward list thinking of who we could visit... We aren't supposed to go and visit ward members on Monday nights because of FHE and we really don't have any investigators. So we were pretty bummed. All day I was praying that we would be given an opportunity to help someone, or to have a missionary experience. But nothing had came up in our path that day. Pretty discouraging... So we just got into our PJ's and sat on the couch and talked... (Probably not the greatest thing to be doing. We should have tracted or something like that. But still.) But then a knock came at our door. Weird. It was 7pm. No one but the ward members know where we live- and why would anyone be here? I answered the door and it was one of the young women from the ward- she had brought us over some salad and fruit. But there was something else on her face that seemed to scream- "I need to talk." So I invited her in, and she accepted. Long story short... She ended up sitting and talking to us for 2 and a half hours about her life, mistakes that she had made, and her feeling like she was losing her testimony. And, oh boy, I could SO relate to her situation. Everything that she had been through, that she was feeling, I had been there too! I shared with her my experiences and my testimony of the atonement- to which she was very touched and left our apartment with a determination to change and improve her life. 
This had been an answer to MY prayer. I prayed to be able to touch someone that day. And this (I found out several days later from her mother) was an answer to her parents prayers- that she could find someone that related to her and would help her develop a testimony through this hard time in her life. The Lord answers prayers. He is aware of us. And he provides answers in a lot of different ways- including through other people.

Tuesday:
Nothing big or exciting happened on Tuesday. Other than one of the ward missionaries invited us into her house really quickly- and she has an entire room dedicated to KOALAS. WHATTTT?!?! I loved it. I need to go back and get a picture. Her husband served in Australia. So it's full of awesome stuff.

Wednesday:
This was my 1 month mark. What-what! Sweet! 17 more to go! haha
We visited with widows/widowers from the ward- sharing messages and helping them with whatever they needed. This ward is filled with older people, who really appreciate and (really) depend on visits from other people so that they don't go crazy sitting at home all day. 
We also visited with a young family, less active, and asked them if they had thought about going to the temple to be sealed. To which she responded, "Well, we just celebrated our 7 year anniversary and we were thinking of going for our 10 year anniversary. That would be really cute!" NOOOO!!! Come on people! Getting sealed in the temple is not renewing your vows! It's getting SEALED for time and all eternity! We're going to need to teach them more about the temple and what it really means...

Thursday:
Man. THIS was a ROUGH day. Full of cancellations and disappointment. But we ended up going to the relief society presidents house to go over the ward list and the ward boundary with her (since everybody knows everybody here- AND their story- AND if you need to know anything you always go to the Relief Society president!)--- Turns out everyone is either active in the church, a "do not contact", or mentally crazy. Yeah. That's exactly what she told us. Isn't that great? haha! 
But that night we had 2 awesome appointments! We taught Lyle again- a less active, has been for 20+ years- and gave him a Book of Mormon to have him read. He's getting more and more willing to change as we meet with him and we can really see the spirit working on him. And we also visited with Dave again! What an awesome guy! We taught him "CPR for the soul"- church, prayer, reading scriptures. And he really understood it! He's been reading the Book of Mormon every day and trying to say his prayers. YES!!! 

Friday:
District Meeting. Whoohooooo. I feel like all of the sisters in my zone are Tongan. Why am I the only white person?! What's with that?! I'm the only person speakin' English around here! haha! But that afternoon, the young woman that talked to us on Monday came and took us out to ice cream at Arctic Circle (love that place). And while there, we were joking with the guy that took our order- he seemed like a friendly guy- so we had the YW give him a mormon.org card with our names and number that said, "Keep up the good work! Call if you want to hear about the gospel! <3 The Lds Sister Missionaries" He shouted, "YES!" when he got it. Yeah, he probably won't call. But it was still awesome.

Saturday:
We established weekly visits with our investigator, Haley! Her Dad still isn't allowing us to give her the discussions- but we're going to meet with her weekly and share little spiritual thoughts with her. It's a start! :) 
We also were walking a little bit that day... and were chased down the street by some killer chihuahuas. Maybe not "chased". But they were pretty ferocious little guys. Scary! haha! And we met with Tami and Summer!!! They are less active and when we said that we wanted to go visit them, everyone in the ward said, "Good luck with that... No one ever meets with them or finds them at home." WELL! WE DID! They were working in their yard- so we offered to help. (Yes, we were in our skirts and scarves and flats.) Imagine me- wearing a maxi skirt- CHOPPING WOOD. Yeah. It happened. And it was awesome. And they let us share a message with them afterwards. :)
That night, we went to a baptism of a Tongan family (TONS OF PEOPLE). MAN, can they sing!! The spirit was so strong as they sang Tongan hymns. And we ate dinner with them afterwards- Let me just say- Tongan food is GROSS. Disgusting. They kept telling me that I was too skinny and needed to eat more.... Maybe I need to hang out with Tongan's more often. They think I'm skinny! haha

Sunday:
My favorite day! I was asked to sing in church on Sunday- and also in zone conference tomorrow. haha! I didn't realize how much I missed music until that day. We went to ward choir- and I just felt so much happier about life and my calling. I need to sing more often! And that night we went over and taught Marietta again- this time about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And we were also joined by a woman named Cassie! She is dating a less active member and is really close to an active family in our ward. Her heart is SO prepared for the gospel! And she's EXCITED! Sister Happy asked them the baptismal question, "As you come to know that these things are true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?" And Cassie was like, "If I know it's true- then of course I would!" We gave her a Book of Mormon and encouraged her to read and pray about it. I testified to her that she needed to find out the truth for herself. She accepted. :D
Marietta... not so much. She's not quite ready yet- she just doesn't WANT a testimony. We're still working with her, planting seeds. And we're hoping that her heart is softened.

That's pretty much it for my week. Some awesome things are happening! The work is coming- slowly- but it's coming. :) 
I hope you all are doing great and I look forward to hearing from you. :)

Love,
Sister Gubler

p.s. We got flowers from a member in the ward! 
And we went to a boy scout store!

Photos of trip from MTC to Idaho!

Photographs from the MTC, FEB. 2014