Double Trouble

Welcome to Walla Walla Land of the Wheat home of the not-so-free state penitentiary!

Walla Walla has Everything. 

Sheep!

More cute sheep can be seen at this website

Mountains!

Trees!

Cool Streams!

And Cinnabon Delights!

 A Fox!! I saw a fox and I did not get a picture of it because it was bounding away from us. But it was a moment I had been waiting for for about 12 years. It has always been a dream of mine to see a fox not in a zoo. 

This is not a real fox. Nor do I have permission to watch this video on my mission. Thanks to Lisa for sharing it for me. 

NOTE FROM LISA:

For the record it is against my better judgement to include this video.

Getting Doubled in Means that neither me nor my new companion Sister Owens knows the area at all. So we had some fun getting lost. Hence the mountain picture.  

I'll miss Moses Lake and Sister Reyes. But she'll have a blast holding down the fort while I continue to get lost and meet great new people down here.

We live in  an apartment! Not with Members. And the previous Elders were nice and did some DEEP Cleaning. 

We have a car. Which may be more stress than it's worth. (Let's just say we got REALLY lost.)

I don't know why I worried about training. Sister Owens came Pre-trained. She knows how to do most everything. As soon as we learn the area and get into the swing of things we'll be doing just fine. We already have lots of appointments for this week!

Eternal Truth for the Week: People love Sister Missionaries. Sisters and Elders are good at different things. After a while of having Elders our ward was really very excited to have Sisters. We already have 12 days in May on which ward members have volunteered to come out with us for a little while. They loved the Elders very much - and from the note that the Elders left us - I can tell that they loved the ward back.

Still. People love Sister Missionaries. 

Love,

Sister Caroline Faulkner

It's Training It's Pouring

We had a baptism this week! A Wonderful woman we found on Christmas Eve named Rebecca was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Easter Sunday. It was such a great experience and lots of people from  the ward came out to support her. I am so happy for her and I know that this will help her throughout her whole life. 

It's a bittersweet ending to 3 great transfers in Moses Lake.  Sweet because I've seen our area grow so much in 4 months and I've grown to love the ward and the people that we teach, like my own family. Bitter because I have to say goodbye.

Eternal Truth for the day: Just when you get comfortable, the Lord calls you another way. He keeps us on our toes. He asks us to stretch. 

This one pertains to salvation. This life is about growing and becoming- so it's no surprise that I have to leave this area that I love so much and go do hard things so that I have to be humble and rely more on the Lord. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve in this little place. 

But I know that my next area will be a blessing as well.  I know that the Lord asks us to do far more than we can do alone. He asks the weak and inexperienced to do hard things so that we will do them in His way. I only hope that I can do that. This next transfer I'll be training a new missionary in Walla Walla, Washington. There are lots of sister missionaries in Walla Walla. We'll have lots of fun, I'm sure. This used to be an Elders' area so this will be all the more exciting. I know that the Lord will put us in the path of people there that need us and are ready for our message. 

 I hope that as I train I can rely on the resources the Lord has given to us like the scriptures, the words of the mission president, the white handbook, Preach My Gospel, and the advice of living prophets since my own experience is so limited. 

Also, this week was Easter Sunday! We had a great program in church. I love the Easter Hymns. We had a great Ward activity about the Passover and how it relates to the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Sacrament (or the Lord's Supper as it is sometimes called). The ward showed us a lot of love and I got a package from a friend as well. These are some of the gifts we were given to us. I love these people so much!

We moved in with another member family this week. Just in time for me to pack up and move again.

Thanks for your love and support.

Love,

Sister Faulkner

Excuses Excuses

Sorry about all of the missed weeks. Things got a little bit Crazy with a temple trip and the library where we email being closed for a week. I'll make up for it. Maybe.

  

I'm pretty sure the old adage is "April showers bring May flowers," but I think the flowers got a little bit confused. Moses Lake is covered in flowers right now.

Magnolias, Tulips, Daffodils, and Hyacinths are popular. There are also those icky-smelling pink or white trees that we also have in Provo. 

My companion saw deer for the first time in her life. 

We are coming up on the end of my third beautiful transfer in Moses Lake. I have grown to love this little town even more than I loved it when I came. 

I am having tons of fun learning a little bit of Spanish from my bi-lingual companion. This week I learned how to tell people about asking questions in prayer and how to say whether I want or like something. Useful stuff. 

Easter is this Sunday and I would like to share a really great video about Jesus Christ.

http://easter.mormon.org/

Christ's Sacrifice changes everything about my life. Because of Him, I am where I am. Because of Him, I have hope that my family can be together forever. Because of Him, I can change and repent every day and return to live in my Heavenly Father's presence one day. His sacrifice for each of us inspires me to love others.

Time for three Eternal Truths that do not pertain to Salvation.

1. Mail is worth it's weight in gold. Missionaries love mail. It means that someone loves them.

2.  Flowers bring joy to people. Weeds that have flowers do not bring as much joy to people. If we allowed flowering weeds to grow in our gardens they would last longer and require less care than the flowers that we work so hard to maintain. 

3. People come outside when it's warm. They stay inside when it is cold. It is way easier to find people to talk to when it's warm outside.

There are the kittens that I didn't really take in but I am claiming as my own- even though other people take care of them and feed them. 

I love you all. Happy Easter. With all the new life we see around us - let us look to Christ and remember the light and life that He offers us every day.

Love,

Sister Faulkner