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 They originally made the film to go into visitors centers around the U.S., but after putting it into focus groups (made of non-members) 75% of the people said that , from the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---

Spiritual Feast!

Letter from September 8, 2014:

This week was full of spiritual goodness! It was my 7 month mark (yippee!), followed by zone conference and zone meeting. I'll write about all that went on this week and, at the end of my email, I'll share the things that I learned this week. :) 

On Tuesday we had dinner with Sister Rohrbacher- the Relief Society president in the ward. Everyone always asks us what we want to eat, and our answer is always the same: "Oh, whatever! It doesn't matter to us! Just make whatever is easiest for your family!" Cause, seriously, we really don't know what we want to eat. haha. Well, Sister Rohrbacher decided to be the saint that she is and she looked me up on pinterest! haha! She made my FAVORITE enchilada recipe innn theee worlddddd. It was SO good. That's been the best meal so far on my mission! Sister Pritchard and I were looking forward to it all day long. :) 

Tuesday night, the Relief Society had an activity that they called "Taking it Back Tuesday". We learned (or re-learned) all sorts of "lost" skills- making pie crust, embroidery, decorating cards, making hand soap, canning, and etiquette. It was such a fun night! I feel like I'm going to come home from my mission and be a trained farmer's wife. Haha! I'm ready! I'm sending home some of the things that I made. :) 

Did anyone watch the BYU vs Texas game Saturday night?! I didn't either... But the older couple that we live with (we live in their basement) were watching it. They know that I went to BYU-Idaho... (So I guess that automatically makes me a BYU football fan? haha!) so they were screaming down to me whenever BYU made a touchdown. It was seriously the funniest thing ever. Some 80-somethin' year olds screaming down "TOUCHDOWN! TOUCHDOWN, SISTER GUBLER!!" Hahaha. But, hey, BYU WON!

We went and visited with Jesus- we haven't been able to catch him at home for a really long time. But we had an amazing discussion with him! We pretty much taught the entire Plan of Salvation on his doorstep. It was awesome. But, at one point, he started talking about how he's dating this 26 year old girl... (Jesus is 62.) And he started asking us if it was acceptable... haha! (Again, I'm a MISSIONARY. I'm not qualified to give dating advice.) I gave a quick rundown of the law of chastity (I'm not shy. I get to the point. haha) to which he responded: 

"How old are you?"

"I'm 20."

"If you were in love, would you ever date a 50 year old guy?"

Awkward. Seriously. But I just flat out said, "No, Jesus. First off, I don't think that (falling in love with a 50 year old) would ever happen. So, no, I can't say I would." 

HAHAHAHA. I don't roll that way. He is one lonelyyyy dude, though. I feel bad. But he felt a little bit better after we explained life after death- that we return to live with God. We don't just disappear into nothingness! 

We had a lesson with the Stewart's on Sunday afternoon. As always, it was amazing! Richard is SO prepared. He's even started to tell people about his baptism! He told us that he prayed about everything that we've been teaching, and he knows that it's true! :D I'm so happy for him! Elsie is the same- she's prayed about it and knows that it's true. As I told you last week, she's already been following the Word of Wisdom (even before we taught it!). Rocky is a little behind though. He knows it's true- he feels that it is. But he hasn't read anything, hasn't prayed, and he hasn't been coming to church very much. But Rocky is the type of guy that wants to do everything 100% or not at all. He's getting there. Their entire family is so prepared for the gospel! They committed to keeping the Word of Wisdom as well!!! They are so excited for the gospel (and me as well, can't ya tell?!). Funny thing that happened during the lesson though- Rocky went outside for a few minutes while we were visiting. And while he was outside, he yells in: "Mom! The cops are here!" And here I start freaking out thinking, "Crap. Our investigators are actually criminals. Dang it. What did we get ourselves into?!" Elsie goes outside- turns out that the cops were just trying to find the house for a lost dog. hahahahahaha! I worried for nothing apparently.

New investigators! Seth and Chasey. They were originally being taught by our District Leader and his companion, but they had requested to be taught by Sister Missionaries. (Yay for Sisters!) Seth is a member, but went really less active throughout his life. And Chasey, a non-member, is his girlfriend. We are so excited to teach them! We went over and met them last night and they are awesome! 

Zone Conference was great- with Elder Godoy of the 70. I really needed the spiritual uplifting this week (tough week, tough week). And it was (as always) fabulous to see all of my mission friends. :) 
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Sister Cannon spoke on Mosiah 5:12-13. Learning to recognize the Master's voice.

"The way we FEEL is more important than what we hear." -Sister Cannon
"Your call is to work after the manner of the Lord, not after the manner of men." -Elder Gay

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President Cannon- How to Become a "POWER" Missionary

D&C 79:1
D&C 109:22-23
Example of Paul- 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 - The SPIRIT is what teaches.

P - Priesthood               D&C 84:19-20
O - Obedience               Because we LOVE our Father
W - Witness                  
E - Example                  "White Shirt Policy"
R - Righteousness         The powers of heaven cannot be controlled or handled otherwise

I loved how President Cannon talked about his "white shirt policy". Long story short- his white shirt policy is just things that he has said that he would always do (even though they weren't required of him). For example, he would always wear a white shirt to church, he doesn't drink coke, his family doesn't go do anything on Sunday, etc. And I noticed that I have my own "white shirt policy". My problem is just that I tend to want EVERYONE ELSE to keep MY same policy as well... I need to work on that. haha. In my opinion, when flying an airplane, the higher above the tree line that you are, the safer you are as well. 

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Elder Godoy (of the 70)- 

I've been having a hard time lately with feeling that I'm growing- spiritually. I had a talk with my companion this week, ya know, just complaining, about how "I could be growing just as much if I were at home". Blah blah blah. Yeah, I've repented of that philosophy. I was way wrong. But Elder Godoy made an analogy that made everything clear. He talked about how your spiritual age is the same as your physical age. Sometimes you cannot see the difference in your physical growth until you look at a picture of yourself from 1 year ago. It's the same as your spiritual growth. You get so used to looking at yourself every day that you don't see a difference. But there is! YOU ARE GROWING. If others from home saw you, they would notice. He also made the point that you are not here on a mission to be who you were before. You need to ALLOW the change to happen within you.

Elder Godoy also gave some helpful tips for sharing the gospel with our friends. Think about what you like about our doctrine and share that with non-members. Is it that we are children of God? That we are sealed as families? Is it that we do work for the dead? Is it that we believe in repentance? Share those points that you most cherish.

Another talk that I had with my companion was about how I feel that (sometimes) I am not receiving blessings even though I am doing my best. There are some missionaries that baptize a million people and everyone loves them and they're so happy all the time... And then there's people like me. People that still question their effectiveness as a mission. People that feel like they aren't doing anything right. People that aren't happy 100% of the time. Elder Godoy talked about how sometimes the Lord holds on to our blessings and saves them for later. He doesn't give them to us all at once (in the form of baptisms), but sometimes he saves them for when you've been home for a couple of years. Or he saves them and gives them to you 20 or 30 years down the line. Other times, he takes your blessings and transfers them to others who need them more than you. He knows what you're strong enough to handle- and maybe that means that you don't need to see a million blessings in happening in your life. I thought that was an interesting point.

Elder Godoy feels very strongly about the parents of missionaries. He asked us: What were your parents last words to you before you got on the plane? Some missionaries (who have had a lot of missionaries in their family) had very wise counsel given to them. Others don't have a huge history of missionary work didn't have much said. But Elder Godoy shared Moroni 8:1-3 with us and promised us that "The Lord will help you and He will answer the prayers of your parents." (I hope you're praying. haha) Elder Godoy told us to live each day like your mom (or dad) was your mission companion. Work so that you know, without a doubt, that they would be proud of you. 

The last point that he made to us was: "Don't be afraid to promise blessings. The angels of heaven will back you up." I liked that.
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Zone Meeting

Having the Humility to Change (Christlike Attributes: Humility)
     -D&C 12:8 We cannot do this work without humility! 
     -Alma 5:27-29 --> Alma 26:12

How Can We Realize Our Potential?
     -Do not fear man more than God. It is better to be trusted than to be loved.

Don't Judge Who Will Accept (Chapter 9: Preach My Gospel)
     -1 John 4:7-11

BECOMING a Missionary
     -We talked about how we need to constantly work towards being those "perfect missionaries" that the members expect that we are. WE (as missionaries) know that we are just average joe's. We aren't anything special, like ward members think that we are. But we need to work to fill that role- constantly.
     -Keep growing even after your mission. Don't "shrink" when you're released.

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This week was definitely a spiritual feast! :) 

Sister Gubler

I CAUGHT ONE!

A letter from September 1, 2014:

We went fishing this morning with the Stewart's- bright and early! I've never fished in my life. I've never even touched a worm in my life. I don't think I've even held a live fish in my life! BUT I DID IT! AND IT WAS AWESOME! 

I'll take this email "step by step, day by day...." (Isn't that the theme song to a TV show?)

Monday- Every Monday morning, we get together with some ladies from the ward (and some non-members too) and do PIYO. It's awesome. Love it. And I'm sooo sore. After that, we email home (yippee!), have lunch with the Parma 1st Ward Sister Missionaries, and then go to the Walmart in Ontario. That part is pretty much the same every Monday. (We live such exciting lives, don't we?) One of the Sisters from Parma 1 has been having a rough time this transfer, so we decided to spend the day with her and her companion. We watched Ephraim's Rescue and had a true girl day- hair, nails, etc. It's not really like me to do that, but I enjoyed it. :) Sister Pritchard went to beauty school, as I think I've stated before, so she was ALLLLLL for it. haha! Sister Pritchard tried to color my hair a little bit- but it didn't show up. My hair is defiant, I guess. ;) That night, we had family home evening with Wagstaff family (one of about 10 Wagstaff families in the ward haha). They taught us how to make cinnamon rolls- and they were DELICIOUS. (Seriously. And I wonder why I'm gaining weight?)

Tuesday- Tuesday morning, we went to Patti's house (one of the ward missionaries) and helped her clean. She's planning a surprise birthday party for one of the ladies in the ward. (so nice of her!) But Patti's husband passed away a few years ago, and now she's started looking online for a new boyfriend, using LDSSingles. haha! I was trying not to completely CRACK UP as I read her the profiles of her "matches". ;) Ohhhh, gotta love online dating! That afternoon, we went out with Susan (another one of the ward missionaries) to go and visit people. We stopped by the Johnston's (remember the people with the house straight out of Country Living?) and chatted with them for a while. I seriously love them. They're the nicest people ever. And they always hook us up with service projects in the community. :) Gotta love that!
Not much else happened that day... Just a lot more visiting. haha That's the usual in the missionary life.

Wednesday- Wednesday was what I call a complete failure. Our district meeting was cancelled at the last minute, so we had an extra 4 hours of unplanned time to kill. And no one was home- even the members. Lots of knocking, and doors not opening. That was pretty much the entire day. But we had salad for dinner that night! So that was a plus! haha Look for the positives, right?

Thursday- So, there were 4 funerals for the Parma community this week... Sad. So we helped set up for one of them on Thursday morning. We weren't invited to attend, but we helped set up! (That seems to be a pattern for missionaries. haha) And afterwards, we did our weekly planning. Patti took us out that afternoon to do some visits- but, again, no one was home. We ended up at Allison's house (a girl... lady?... She's only a couple years older than me... Okay. She's a girl!.. That just had a baby) and we (spur of the moment!) helped her to clean her house. She's been going through a hard time, so she really appreciated our help. That made our day. Gotta love service! :) 

Friday- We went to PIYO Friday morning- love love love it. Mom, you should totally give it a try. Well... maybe not. It might be hard on your hip. But it's still fun! BUT we WERE invited to attend seminary afterwards!!! So we did. :) And it was great! They did a scripture mastery game... and it brought me back to the good old days. But all of the scripture masteries have changed since I've been in high school. So I was totally outmatched. But I'll just have to study up and play again! I WILL BE VICTORIOUS! We had a lesson with Ginger that afternoon (who is less active) that went just fabulously. Sister Pritchard and I were really having a hard time knowing what to do with Ginger. She wasn't really progressing at all... and when we would go over for our lessons she wouldn't say anything. She'd just sit there and listen. (Which isn't bad... It just makes it difficult when you're trying to know what they need.) So, during comp study, after talking about it for a long time, Sister Pritchard suggested that we say a prayer and ask for help- so we did. And then we didn't discuss it again. But when we were in the lesson with Ginger, she totally came to life! She talked the whole time! She expressed to us all of her concerns with coming back to church, all of her roadblocks, and we helped her out with such. Heavenly Father really helped us out with that one. We were honestly prepared to drop her and stop visits... But now she's progressing more than before!! 

Saturday- Since our district meeting was cancelled on Wednesday, we had it on Saturday! Yay! I love District Meeting! But we went out to lunch at this... sketchy Chinese place called "Wong's". You know, those places where they can't even speak English? Yeah. I did NOT want to go. I haven't been feeling 100% since I've come on my mission... I don't need to get food poisoning now. haha. But the Elder's wanted to sooo bad, telling me that I needed to try the "authentic cuisine" that Nyssa had to offer. PSHHHH, please. But, I gave in. So we ate there. But it was NOT good. Just sayin'. They should have listened to me. haha! That night, we went to Anne's house and quilted again. It was fun! Our scripture cases are almost finished! Anne just got a foreign exchange student from Iraq named Arvin. He's a typical teenage boy. And Anne made him sew with us... Poor kid. Haha! But he was a lot of fun to be around.

Sunday- Sunday we sang in church, gave impromptu talks in sacrament meeting and I taught Gospel Principles! We also had 3 food appointments that day... Ugh. haha. Mariah and Dallas spoke in sacrament meeting and did GREAT! (I was surprised, she's only been baptized a month and was already given that scary assignment!) But Sunday was a good day. Really exhausting though.

Some exciting things coming up this next week.... Zone Conference on Wednesday- Elder Godoy of the Seventy is coming! And Zone Meeting on Friday! And my 7 month mark is coming up this next week! WHOOHOO!!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!

Sister Gubler

Miracles DO happen!

I'm sorry to hear about the news from home. :( Send my love to their family during this time. Isn't it so great that we know the plan of salvation? It brings me so much comfort to know that we will be with our families for eternity! 

This was a slow week... but full of miracles. We set 4 baptismal dates this week AND found a new investigator! 

Last P-Day, I literally slept alllllll dayyyyy. Then I woke up to head off to proselyte from 6 to 9 pm... And then I came home and slept all through the night! Can you tell I'm exhausted?! Soooo tired. All the time. But... there's no break for a missionary! Keep working! Keep working!

The onion harvesting is in the process, so the air in Parma always smells of onions and makes my eyes start to water. ;) And onions are covering the roads because they fall off of the trucks. People eat onions like apples around here... so the other day, Sister Pritchard and I decided to pick one up off of the road and give it a try.... It was nasty. We're hoping that we can go out and have a "day on the farm" with someone from the ward sometime soon. We want to really experience the life of the every day farmer. haha :)

We met with Anne this week- she says that she wants us to come over, but every time we try and talk about the gospel the conversation always turns for the worst. So, this time we just went over there to visit. We ended up quilting with her for... 2 hours. It was a long time. haha! But she's helping us make book covers for our scriptures. And she is so excited about it! So, I guess now is my time to learn how to sew. :) 

Our bestie, Amanda, decided that she was going to do some facebook challenge... and enlisted our help. (Picture to follow.) Of course, we agreed, because I LOVE doing random things like that. haha! So we poured ice cold water over her head... and I got a little wet. haha. It was fun :) She says that it's OUR turn to do it today... I'll have to think some more about that one. ;) 

One of my favorite activities to do on my mission is to bake cookies, and then take them to people's houses. It's the best! Who can turn down a plate of delicious cookies?! Sister Pritchard and I always write a scripture on a sticky note and put in on top as well. Gotta have some spiritual uplifting! :) I always recommend that members give it a try with their neighbors. :)

Penny is our new investigator. She actually asked one of our ward missionaries if she could meet with us! (Member missionary work at it's finest!!!) We've set up weekly appointments with her. She was actually a member at one point... but... ya know, stuff happened. But she wants to come back! And she is amazing. We're hoping to visit with her again on Thursday :) 

We attended the Meridian Temple groundbreaking this weekend! Well... the broadcast of it. :) Elder Kent F. Richards told us to pick up a small stone and keep it as a reminder of our covenants, and also admonished the community to start doing their family history! He challenged everyone to get family names ready so that the Meridian temple can run on ONLY family names! (That's a BIG challenge! But the Boise temple is almost to that point.) Elder David A. Bednar also came and spoke- he talked about how we need to be grateful even when times are "easy". He joked about how some of us will drive by the temple site every day, take pictures of the progress, make a scrapbook of all of the news articles, show it to all of our friends and family for generations to come... and then we won't ever attend the temple. We will become preoccupied with the "oh, I can go tomorrow"'s and the "when I'm done with this"'s. He said that when times are "easy", THAT is when we will find if we are truly grateful. I challenge everyone to recommit themselves to attend the temple as often as they possibly can!
"The decision to build a temple is not based on the numbers, but is based on the HEARTS of the people." -David A. Bednar

Rocky, Richard, and Elsie all committed to prepare for baptism for September 21!!! We have only had 2 lessons with them... and we've already taught them about The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, Tithing/Fast Offerings, Modesty, Word of Wisdom, the Priesthood, Studying Scriptures, Prayer, Obedience, 10 Commandments, Eternal Marriage, ANDDDDD Temples and Family History Work!!! They are SO prepared for the gospel! They ask a million questions (Which I LOVE!) and they study the scriptures together and pray about everything that we teach them! Elsie told us that she's been praying about it, and that she knows that it's true. She even told us that, several years ago, she received an impression that she needed to quit drinking coffee and smoking, but didn't know why. AND, at about that same time, she was feeling like she needed to get baptized, but didn't know what church to get baptized in. She said that she knows that this is the true church that she needs to be baptized. WHAT?! It was amazing! And after we taught them all how to pray, Richard offered the most wonderful prayer I have ever heard. *tears!* They're even starting to use "LDS lingo" in their conversations with us. I'm just so excited for them. :D

So many miracles are happening. So many people are ready for the gospel! Go out and invite them!!!

Sister Gubler