Conference Weekend!

Letter from October 6, 2014

Hello everyone! :)

I FINALLY got around to writing all of the boys a letter. I sent it today, so it should get there in about a week.

It was my 8 month mark yesterday!!! Please excuse how I'm STILL in my pj's in the picture... 

I'm lazy at 7 am  hahaha

One of the weaknesses that I have is being able to defend what I feel is right. For one thing, I HATE debating and arguing. But sometimes I just FEEL that doing something, or seeing someone, is the right thing to do at the time... And it's a hard thing to explain to companions or leaders- especially when you're questioning your productivity. We have been trying to teach Anna again for a long time, but she hasn't really been interested in talking to us about the gospel or hearing anything about The Book of Mormon. It's been frustrating. But I felt that we shouldn't stop contact with her just yet... Feeling that she would come around eventually. We've spent many weeks quilting with her (making scripture book covers and quilts), not even bringing up the gospel except to say, "Did you go to church this weekend?" or "What have you been reading in the Bible lately?" I just, personally, didn't feel that it was time yet... but that we needed to keep visiting with her. WELL! She had us over for dinner on Tuesday night and while there we were able to have a GREAT spiritual discussion! She had Arvin (her foreign exchange student) move in a few weeks ago (he's from Iran and is a strong Muslim) and, since then, she has been really curious and very accepting of hearing other religions!  We were able to share about the three degrees of glory and about judgement. It was awesome! And it was even better to see what was once just a slight spiritual impression turn into a great teaching moment. :)

We did service this week at the church's fruit orchard in Caldwell! We sorted pears for 5 hours... haha! It was actually a lot of fun! We took Hansen (a recent convert) with us and she really enjoyed doing service. :)

We were able to watch "Meet the Mormons" this week! :) Each mission got a screening of the film so that the missionaries could get a preview. And, let me tell ya, it's AMAZING. Such a good movie! You start off laughing your face off and then, by the end, it's such a spiritual experience that you're almost in tears. They did such a great job with it. They originally made the film to go into visitors centers around the U.S., but after putting it into focus groups (made of non-members) 75% of the people said that , from the movie, they would be willing to listen to LDS Missionaries! Isn't that awesome?! It's such a great movie to invite your friends to go and see. :)

General Conference!!! LOVED IT! I can't even pinpoint my favorite part. The entire thing was just great! It was way too short though... Can we have 5 more sessions? ;)

Pictures to come!

Sister Gubler

I got this ring from the Ward Mission Leader in Nampa- to remind me of how great my mission was.

More exchanges! With Sister Thomas (our STL, also one of my favorite people). We found these CRAZY outfits in the back of their closet... haha FASHION SHOW!

The scripture book cover that I made with Anna.

The picture that Ryan send me is safely inside. :)

I saw Sister Sleigher! :D Seriously one of my favorite people :)

Sister Miller and I... This is right before she left to go to the temple!

Exchanges in Nampa for the day- with Sister Anderson (from SC- on the left) and Sister Clemons. We're making pies. :) 

Beware of Pride

Letter from September 29, 2014

FAMILY: Thanks so much for PIYO and the packages this week! I've LOVED them! I've put the stickers to good use already and we listened to the CD in the car on the way here to the library. :) Thank you, thank you!
And, I just have to say, Reid's letter was THE funniest thing I've ever read while on my mission. hahahaha I was cracking up! 
If you could send me some more buttoned sweaters from DownEast (I already have black, brown, and blue)- that would be great! 

What a crazy week! 2 exchanges, tracting, and the General Women's Meeting! I've had a headache all week as well... Hmmm... Wonder why. ;) STRESS. haha!

So.... I tried to go a week without sugar the past 7 days. Yeah. I failed on day 3. haha! It's so hard as a missionary! This old guy gave me a free ice cream cone (the owner of A&W- because his old roommate was a Gubler! YES! Family connections!) and then this other guy in the ward started complaining about how he didn't get dessert because we didn't eat ours.... Awkward. Can't ya'll just support me in my healthy eating choices?! haha! Here's to trying again. 

Another P-Day came and went last week- and I still feel like nothing really got accomplished. We have to do our laundry, email home, write letters, clean our apartment, go shopping in Ontario, go to the post office, have lunch and dinner, AND then our zone expects us to go and hang out with them at the stake center for the day.... And then we still have to be out proselyting at 6 p.m.  AHHH!!! Monday is seriously the most stressful day ever. I never get anything done. So, sorry if I haven't written you in a while or responded to a letter. I'll be better!

I won't give details on this- BUT, it's always a great feeling when you've felt a prompting from the spirit, follow it, and then (several months later) realize why you felt the prompting. (I don't know if that makes sense to anyone... but, yeah, it's an awesome thing.) I have a feeling that that's how I'll feel about my mission when I get home... felt a prompting, followed it, and later find out why it was important.

On Thursday, Sister Miller hit her 9 month mark- so she got to go to the temple! Lucky her! Only 1 more month until it's my turn! :) But, while she was gone, I served with Sister Clemons and Sister Anderson in the Nampa East Stake. It was an awesome day! We baked pies (put my pie-making hands to the test!), taught a couple of lessons, and visited some members. Their ward mission leader is a rock collector, and let me take home a rock and an old ring. (He gives one to each Sister that comes to his home.) He told me that, whenever I look at it, I need to remember how wonderful my mission was and all of the things that I learned there. It was a pretty awesome gift.

We did service for Mariah and Dallas again. But this time we cleared the front of their trailer: throwing away trash, moving large sticks and pieces of wood, and racking back leaves. We made a play area for the kids and even got creative by lining the path to her trailer with sticks and making her and Dallas a driveway lined with sticks as well. It was pretty cute- if I say so myself. haha! After doing that, since we were already in our service clothes, we thought that we'd try to offer service for members of the ward that lived nearby... Ohhh mannn... Haha! This one ward member (a really old guy) starts lecturing us (big time) about how we're "not doing missionary work" and that we're "wasting our time" by doing service for people: "Explain to me how THIS is missionary work!" (which I GLADLY explained with a large smile on my face :D)... And then he proceeds to give us 3 referrals... AND THEN tells us about how he healed himself one time..... Yeah. That was an interesting experience. I just smiled and said, "That's so awesome, Brother! Thank you for sharing these things with us! You are a great missionary! But, sorry, we actually have to get going... Can we say a prayer with you before we leave?" *missionary escape route* haha!

We had another day of exchanges on Friday night- Saturday night. Sister Miller had a couple baptisms in Nampa to attend, so we exchanged with our Sister Training Leaders, and I went to New Plymouth for the day. It was actually an awesome experience, as we worked in Fruitland for the day at our zone tracting blitz. Sister Thomas (my STL) and I both commented on how much we enjoyed working with each other- because we made tracting fun! So many times (depending on your companion, really) tracting can be nothing but AWKWARD. You go to a door and the person looks at you like, "Why are you here? What do you want?" and you're just thinking to yourself, "I'm here to talk to you about the gospellllll... Please invite me inside?... Please?" But really what comes out is: "Hi! What's your name?! My name is Sister Gubler!" And you continue to drag on a pointless conversation that ends with: "Well, hey! Can we share a scripture with you?!" And then they walk away going: "Those Mormons are weird... I just wasted 5 minutes."  Awkward. Just awkward.
But Sister Thomas and I had some great spiritual experiences as we handed out copies of The Book of Mormon, shared scriptures from the Bible, and prayed with people. We were able to find people that were prepared to hear the gospel! And I definitely felt the spirit guiding our words. When you and your companion are working in unity and are really listening to the spirit, you find yourself really having the desire to talk to people and share the gospel with them.

Ohhhh mannn!!! WOMEN'S CONFERENCE WAS AMAZING!!!! I loved Uchtdorf's talk. No one else seemed to get the same message out of it that I did... But the whole time I was listening, the phrase: "Beware of Pride" came into my head. Think about it though! The Lord really does NOT care about what you wear, what you look like, how many friends you have, if you're the smartest one in your class, if you have the best pinterest board, if your house is like a magazine... It really doesn't matter to Him. And He really does know something that we DON'T. The whole conference was so great. Sister Miller and I are going to start memorizing "The Living Christ"- hoping to have it down by December 25. :)

I can't believe it happened... but it did. I forgot my camera again. *face palm fail* So, this weeks pictures will have to come next week! Sorry! :(

Sister Gubler

Slapped in the Face...

Figuratively. (But I almost got ya there, didn't I? haha)

(Letter from September 22, 2014)

"If we are not humble then we will be compelled to be humble." <--- And THAT is the lesson that I have learned this week.

Week one of the transfer with Sister Miller has proven to be a very humbling experience. When I grow up, I want to be just like her. She is the purest definition of missionary: quiet, humble, kind, patient, loving, charitable, exactly obedient, and all around Christlike. 

She came in to the area and she lovingly showed me that I've been doing things incorrectly... my entire mission. WHAT?! I was so devastated. I wasn't aware, but I had not been doing paperwork right or following all mission protocol exactly. I was CRUSHED! I had been disobedient!!! 

"My companion is going to think I'm a complete idiot! She probably thinks I have no idea how to do missionary work! This is terrible! What have I been doing these past 8 months?!" 

I seriously cried- for the first time in a long time. I felt like I had been slapped in the face and fed a HUGE slice of humble pie. (Which, looking back, that was a stupid reason to cry. But still.) I sat her down during companion study and explained my desire to be obedient and do everything exactly right- but that she'd need to help me do it. I hadn't been trained on these things! I just kind of... figured it out on my own. And Sister Miller, being the absolutely Christlike missionary that she is, consoled me and told me that she would teach me. *sigh* I love her. She is amazing. Here goes training!!! haha! 

A member of the ward made us an African dish for dinner (something from his mission)- ugali and egg stew and spinach. Look it up, Google it. Haha. It was... definitely interesting. It just solidified my gratefulness for serving in the United States- that's for sure. That's, by far, the most foreign thing I've eaten on my mission. It totally passed up lamb and uncooked chicken. hahaha

We did a TON of service this week. How I love, love, love service! :) Here in Parma, we've been struggling to develop member/missionary relationships. So we decided that we were going to do service for each and every family in the ward. It'll take a long time- probably span over a couple transfers- but the missionaries in the future will benefit from it! We've already noticed a difference our associations with ward members, in meetings, getting referrals, etc. 

During our service run, we helped Mariah and Dallas clean their trailer that they live in. (Pictures included.) This was the first time that I had ever been in their "house". And, oh my, it was interesting. Their kids are always getting sick and having to go to the hospital- and now I know why. We helped them clean for a total of 2 hours- and managed to make it so that half of their trailer was... sanitary. They both didn't grow up with parents that taught them how (and why it's important) to live clean lives and live in a clean home. We plan on going over there every couple of days to help them do a "quick pick up" and teach a lesson on cleanliness. 

While cleaning, Dallas turned on some church music and after listening for a few minutes said, "I love this music! It makes me want to work!" And I responded with, "That's the Spirit, Dallas!" And then later in the cleaning session, near the end, Dallas said, "I've never lived in something so clean... I don't even know what to do with myself. It's so peaceful!" and again I said, "That's the Spirit, Dallas!" Mariah was THRILLED to live in a clean home (at least for that little while that we were there) and thrilled that she accepted help. We shared D&C 88:119 with them. It was one of the most evident changes in the Spirit that I have felt since being on my mission. As the 2 hours went on, it became stronger and stronger. It was wonderful.

We taught a missionary preparation class at mutual this week for the priests and laurels (as well as our ward missionaries). I LOVE the youth of the church! They're my favorite people. :) We taught them how to talk to their friends about gospel topics- teaching them to summarize their answers into 1-2 sentences when their friends ask about doctrine (they showed us what they learned by performing skits). We also showed a couple mormon messages about missionary work and then bore our testimonies. Overall, it was a good spiritual experience. I think that the youth took to it well and that they'll use what they learned when they're at school.

OH! I HAVE to tell you this! Elder and Sister Short (the senior missionaries that work in the office) have a son that lives in our ward boundaries that is inactive. They had told us about him, and we had been trying to find their son for 2 transfers! But he would either never be home, never answer the door, whatever the case was. I told Sister Miller about our predicament, and we created our transfer goal: "FIND RJ SHORT". Well, that night, we thought that we'd get a jump on it. So we drove to his house and knocked on the front door- and then HE WALKED AROUND THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE! YESSS! WE FOUND HIM! We talked to him for about 30 minutes- he showed us his farm and we invited him to come to church on Sunday. After 1 DAY- we reached our transfer goal. Haha. Looks like we'll need to make a new one. :) And we're so excited to tell Elder and Sister Short that we FINALLY met their son. :)

We had another lesson with the Stewart's. We watched "Finding Faith in Christ" and recommitted them for baptism on October 18th. _____________ is really struggling with quitting smoking- extra prayers would be wonderful. We know he can do it! With Christ, we can do anything! 

We taught 22 total lessons this week! A new record for our area! YES! 

But, again, I am loving my new companion and this new transfer! I'd love to get some letters/emails/pictures from friends at home. :) 

Moroni 10:32
Sister Gubler

This is Patti- she is one of our ward missionaries. :) She likes to think of herself as our "missionary mom". She's seriously the funniest lady on the planet! I learn so much from her.

Staying in Parma!

Letter from September 15, 2014


Transfers happened today- I'm staying in Parma for at least another 6 weeks. 

Sister Pritchard went to Homedale, so I have a new companion (again- this makes comp #6...). I'm just throwing away companions like Krispy Kreme does day old donuts! But my new companion is Sister Miller- 21, from Utah, went 2 years at UVU- and she is great! She came out the transfer before me. New transfers are always a little rough, you have to get used to someone else- it's awkwardness all over again- but after 2 weeks I'm sure that everything will be great. 

I forgot my planner at home... I wasn't thinking this morning. So I'll try my best to remember everything that happened this week. Luckily (for the email), Sister Pritchard was sick and it was a slow week, so there's not much to remember. Haha

On Monday, last p-day, our zone went bowling!!

It. was. AWESOME. Since it was a Monday afternoon, we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves. :) Oh my gosh... I REALLY don't have anything to say about this week... 




We had a ward party on Saturday evening. We played kickball! 

Kristey and Amanda, my favorite people!

I have NEVER seen such a competitive ward... Seriously. It was hilarious. And Sister Pritchard and I were seriously the WORST players on the field. It was super embarrassing. "You can kick... I'm just going to go to the back of the line..." haha Did I talk about the Stewart's committing to live the Word of Wisdom?? Yeah! Well, THEY DID! They're in the process of quitting smoking- some extra prayers for them would be helpful. :) They have been growing so much since hearing about the gospel! Since Sister Pritchard was leaving, the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) was mostly spent visiting all of the members and investigators so that she could say goodbye.
Saying goodbye with the Rohrbacher's:

Nothin' new there... We really didn't have anything exciting happen! :( Bummer.

Sister Gubler

This is the couple that we live with. We went out to breakfast this morning. :)

Welcome to the District---