3 Rows Up, 11 Seats in!

Que Pasa Calabaza (What's up, pumpkin!) hahaha I guess spanish people love these greetings because they rhyme!

This week we taught Loupe and we had a really spiritual lesson where we read 2 Nephi 18:21 - a couple more and we said a prayer that his dad would let him be baptized. It was super cool because we went back the next lesson and he said that his dad wasn't exactly happy but that he wouldn't stop him! However, we taught the Plan of Happiness for that next lesson and Loupe fell ASLEEP! HIS EYES WERE LEGIT rolling in the back of his head! hahah I didn't feel too bad.. I know that our Spanish is rocky.. BUT we're going back tomorrow with an OBJECT LESSON! whoohooo!

Gabi is getting married! We have been trying to get her to talk to her boyfriend so that they can get married and she can be baptized and she did! She invited us to her wedding but unfortunately.. we're getting "transferred." I really hope that I can help teach a real investigator the lessons and attend a real wedding! AHH I CAN"T WAIT TO GET TO CALIFORNIA!

We have a tradition of Soccer Saturday in our Zone! It is so fun! I'm actually not bad! We decided that Hermana Davidison runs like a Gazelle, in a good way! those long legs of hers.. haha who needs National geographic channel when I've got it right here!

I finally saw my friend Mary Lamphier! We cried (more like she cried, and I tried to squeeze my eyes together to produce condensation to publicly display the gravitiy of the situation) when we saw each other, I really wanted to see her before I left! She has been through a lot to be a missionary and I just adore her.

OH! This week we did service for the last time :( I had to wear these black gloves that were like leather pants for my hands. good times.

This week Sister Janice Kapp Perry was the Devotioal speaker. She wrote our childhoods in case you didn't know. Seriously every popular children's hymn and get this! HER FAMILY HAS A SONG, SHE WROTE A SONG WITH HER Family AND IT WAS HILARIOUS! Also, this is the pick up line her husband used on her in band class where they met.. "Those lips look like they were made for someting better than playing the clarinet!" hahaha HE"S GOT GAME! get this, after she told the story to us, HE GOT UP AND PLANTED A KISS ON HER and then put his fist in the air like "SUCCESS!" haha they're like 70 years old!!! Talk about Rated PG...

This week I also got to host the new missionaries! Basically you just help them out of their cars, watch the parents cry and then take them away haah. My district got lost on the way to the meeting that was ourside the MTC aso that was an adventure. When we got there, the guy giving directions was hilarious. He was like.. ask the mom if they have the immunization record.. if she goes.. "What record..?" Then ABORT ABORT! DO NOT FLUSTER THE MOTHER! ... it was hilarious.

Here's a spanish joke...with no accents because I can't do that on this comp..

Que es la diferencia en medio de una pera y su novia? (What is the difference between a pear and your girlfriend?)

Una es pera.. pero, al otro no espera! (One is a pear... and the other one won't wait!)

It's funny because it rhyms in spanish.. hahah... I think it's funny.. Okay...

WE HAD IN FEILD TRAINING AND IT WAS SO FUN! We learned all about using members to help us. We also practiced "finding" people to teach. Turns out, I'm really good at this. I honestly think it's my strength as a missionary. I just genuinely LOVE talking to people. So this Sister is practicing contacting me and she started crying.. I was like uhhh... She said, "I'm so scared.." I gave her a hug (that's right, I'm affectionate) and asked her why she's a Mormon.. she just kind of told me.. Then I said, "okay, now I'm going to be a random woman at the park and I'm going to ask you the same question. She did awesome! We got through it together and it just felt good to help someone.

That's not all but I have like 7 minutes left! Ahh!

Les quiero!

Hermana Eskidmas

I found Kyrsten!

My desk

California Love

Sister Lamphier!

Me 3 Rows Up, 11 Seats in at a world wide missionary broadcast :) #famous

Dirty Hands & Travel Plans

It's getting mas y mas dificil to remember things in English. Not when I type necessarily, but when I talk.. and spell.. as you can tell (: it's exciting.. When I have to say prayers in English.. I have to stop and be like.. uh.. gracias por... discurso.. NO NO NO I mean sorry Thank you for the devotional..! Crazy (:

 

My companera y yo were asked to be the examples in a "How to Begin Teaching" seminar for the new missionaries that came in this week. She ended up getting sick (that story is coming up!) so I got to do it with another hermana in our district, Hermana Griffith, she's going to Sac with me ( i really don't like the word sac.. trying to get used to that.. haha).Basically we knocked on the door of an auditorium with mics hooked up to us and we acted as if we were going into someones home but there were like 50 new missionaries sitting there, watching us talk to an investigator for the first time! So cool! We had one lady named Sarah who was hilarious. She is basically buddist and it was so fun to just see what she believed and talk to her about the Church. She loves yoga and stuff and she just had a firey personality. Her questions were a little all over the place pero esta bien. The other one was George, he was an old man that had his leg amputated and was mad at God for taking it until he said a prayer and realized that God took his leg in order to get George to start praying again. That was such a cool experience. It was an honor to be chosen to demonstrate something that I love doing for the new missionaries. Getting to know people and their stories is so rewarding - holler at your reporter skills! Thad, Erin, Kate (:

 

I don't have much time so I'll just skip to the spiritual/crazy story of the week.

 

Wednesday morning. Errbody in the MTC woke up with a stomach virus. Well not everyone... but 2 of the hermanas in my room, Hermana Davidison and Hermana Cruz.. along with another Elder in our district and a bunch of other people at the MTC. No bueno.

 

I had heard them getting out of bed a bunch that night and I thought to myself.. "Wow they must really have to pee..." Then my subsoncious went back to "Sea monkey stole my money.." (name that movie, Mitch!)

 

 I felt bad when my comp woke me up at like 6 and said hey.. I've been barfing all night... and the whole time I just thought she had major bladder issues.. woops. Anyways, Hermana Cruz and her comp Hermana Griffith had had to throw away the garbage bag with vomit in it so they traipsed out to the dumpster at like 3am. Meanwhile, I'm like OMG these people need to drink less water..ZZzzz... I suck. haha

 

This sickness thing ended up changing our lives. Stay tuned.

 

Fun Fact: That morning, after I woke up and realized what was going on, I went to the bathroom and saw a penny. Heads up. Lucky day. Little did I know.

 

So the 4 of us (out of 8) in my district that were healthy, went to class. Pretty normal day. Hermana Griffith was my comp.

 

Then in the afternoon we had class with Hermano Peterson and this lesson changed all of us. He had made a lesson plan.. but after realizing there was only 4 of us, he decided to work on a"Fundamental" with us called "Teach People, Not Lessons."

 

We talked a lot about our purpose as missionaries. We are to invite others to come unto Christ.. and that means making the Gospel applicable in their life and not just bulldozing over them with information.

 

He said a lot of things that I will never forget. I wrote all of them in my journal but one was "God has been preparing these people since way before you ever meet them. You can't just come in and try to change God's game plan. You have to teach and help the investigator on God's time. You have to be listening to the Spirit or you will not teach."

 

He had us practice.

 

My partner for practicing was Elder Page. He had NO prior training in Spanish and the language has been a struggle. Luckily, this exercise was in english. As I sat across from Elder Page, he was the missionary, I was the investigator, he expalined how Repentence and the Atonement of Jesus Christ applies to me. He bore the most incredible testimony, had me read a scripture, and asked me questions that really made me think. The Spirit was so strong that we both were cloudy up top (aka: had tears in our eyes, haha.) Via email I just can't do it justice.

 

After the exercise, Hermana Griffith and I had to go to the demonstration thing and so just the elders and Hermano Peterson were left. I won't go into too much detail but it really hit home with the Elders that we are teaching God's children and we ought to teach His way. Gosh, yeah. I'm not articulating how awesome it was. At night before we said district prater and went back to the dorms, Elder Chappell bore his testimony that he now understands his purpose as a missionary. Family and friends, I love being a missionary.

 

-- Some funny stuff:

 

The MTC choir director is HILARIOUS. We don't go because we can sing, we go because it's like comedy hour! haha. We will be on BYU TV on sunday singing for the World Wide leadership conference so that's exciting! But we were working on a song.. and we allllll hit the wrong note for "Hark all ye nations" and he goes..

 

"WOw! You guys are doing a great job portraying the apostasy!(apostasy: a turning away from the truth through corruption of doctrine resulting in religious confusion) Clearly NO ONE knew where they were going.. 'Searching in darkness(words from the hymn)' you nailed it!" hahaha

 

FUNNY QUOTES!

 

"I'm on a diet, I can't eat salad..." - E. Langi - Tongan Zone Leader (:

 

After a really spiritual moment...

Elder Chappel - "Tomorrow is going to be a different day.."

Hermana Griffith - "You're right it's going to be Thursday."

GOOD FEELINGS GONE. hahahaha it was so comicooooo!

 

Me talking to Hermano Schofield (a teacher)

me  - "Yo estoy muy animada cocinar el nuevo districto!"

Him - "cocinar...?"

Me - "OH I MEANT CONOCER!"

(for all of you english speakers out there that don't get why this is funny.. cocinar means to cook and conocer means to get to know..I told Hermano S that I was excited "to cook" the new district!

 

hahha

 

I love the work I'm doing. I'm learning so much. I know my savior lives. Visit Mormon.org. Say a prayer tonight. Believe me, God wants to hear from you.

 

Todo es bien. (All is well)

 

- hermana eskiiiiidmas

 

Got my travel itinerary for Sacramento :)

The Massive MTC choir

Exodus to the Marriot Center for a devotional, the whole MTC went.

In the MTC Dining Hall

Making a mess of my grapefruit, errrday.

 

WOAH We're HALFWAY THEREEEE WOAH OH LIVIN ON A PRAYER

On Monday in Training Resource Center which is where volunteers come to the MTC to be practice taught by the missionaries- I met a man named Tomaso - We taught him and he talked with us (in Spanish obvi (: ) about missions. Come to find out - HIS DAUGHTER IS IN MY MISSION - SPANISH SPEAKING AND EVERYTHING! When we made the connection, he ran out of the room to get his wife who was being taught in the next room over. When he told her that I was going to be with their daughter, She started crying! Crying! It was the sweetest. She took my picture!! and emailed it to her daughter.hahah  SMALL WORLD!

 

In a recent devotional Elder Arnold of the Quorum of the 70 said, "We are all well acquainted with God. We lived with him before this life for a very long time. He knows us personally. There is divinity in the face of every man and woman becuse they are literally the son or daughter of a loving Father in Heaven. We ought to treat eachother as such." or something like that. I genuinely love the people I teach. It's amazing how that works. The Lord really blesses us with an added measure of charity to help us share His Gospel with His children.

 

We had a challenge to write the Gospel in a few sentences here's mine:

 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the way in which we can become like God.

Through faith in Jesus Christ & His Atonement, we can be made clean from our sins.

This process of identifying and committing to do our best not to repeat those sins is called Repentence.

When we are baptized, our sins are literally washed away.

We are given the Gift of the Holy Ghost to guide and direct us in following the commandments which enable us to endure to the day when we meet God again.

 

Kinda rough but I like it! Nice and simple! The Gospel in one word according to Sister Skidmore: Becoming.

 

I have fallen in love with teaching the Gospel. Since the beginning, I've been really unsure.. but as I teach more and more, I learn to trust the Spirit more, work together with my comp (who is incredible) and everything is okay.

 

Okay here is the culminating event of my MTC experience so far....

 

We have an investigator named Loupe (names have been changed). Loupe is 18. He's from California but lives in Utah. His dad is Athiest and his mom is Catholic, but they don't go to church much. His parents are divorced. His mom leaves for weeks at a time leaving him to care for his siblings. He has Mormon friends from school and is on the track team. He's been to seminary (early morning bible study) but didn't really understand it.

 

The first time we visited Loupe He seemed so sad. He didn't know whether or not he belived in God because bad things have happened in his life, he prayed but he didn't feel like God answered his prayers because bad things kept happening. Gosh, I love Loupe so  so much. For some reason, I really identify with a confused Teenager who is looking for some hope. I guess it's because I can't imagine going through my teenage years without the Gospel and my relationship with Jesus Christ. Anyways, we taught him about pratyer, asked him to try praying again to know that God is his father in heaven that loves him.

 

The next time we returned, We didn't really know how to prepare because we didn't know what kind of answer Loupe would get. RIGHT before the lesson, I felt inspired that we needed to find more scriptures. We had kind of gotten a hint that Loupe had been abused or something.. so I looked through my Book of Mormon for references on Hope and stuff. Jacob 2:8 I think is one I found. Anyways, I found one last scripture before we went in and it turned out to be THE scripture that would really hit home for Loupe.

 

We knocked. Sat down with Loupe. He didn't feel that he got an answer. I could feel his frustration and his desire for blessings in his life. It made my heart hurt. We read some scritpures and we tried to explain that some times God sends trials to strengthen us. It got really quiet.

 

Loupe expalined that the day before we visited him for the first time, his step dad (he lived with his mom) had tried to kill he and his siblings... that's all he said.. or that's all I understood (keep in mind this is all in Spanish). I could see, feel and hear the pain in his voice, eyes and heart. Like I said, I really identified with him.. I started to cry. I STARTED TO CRY. My heart pounded. As my comp bore a beautiful testimony. I went to my last scripture Alma 34:41.

 

I asked Loupe to read it.. He got chocked up as he read it.. I didn't realize that until afterward when Hma Davidson was like he was crying!.. I thought he had a cough.. 

 

The scripture He read -  It's about having patience through your afflictions. Tears welled up in my eyes and I could barely catch my breath as I bore solumn tesitmony to Loupe and GOD DOES NOT ABANDON HIS CHILDREN. Life is hard. But I know that through Jesus Christ, and ONLY Jesus Christ and His gospel, can we find true peace, comfort and understanding as we endure the ups and downs of life.

 

The Spirit was so strong. It was incredible. I cannot find words to describe how grateful I am for the opportunity to meet people like Loupe. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church on the earth today. I am so grateful for a loving heavenly Father who is aware of each of us. I pray every night for the people who are in Sacramento who are wondering if God forgot about them. To them I say, "I'm on my way. God's got this."

 

My scriptures are so colorful and marked up. My testimony is burning. My heart is full. and The Church is true. This work is hard. Please be nice to the Mormon missionaries when you see them. Even though you may not agree with what we teach, you cannot disagree with the fact that we genuinely love everyone that we encounter. As representatives of Jesus Christ, we are simply here to help and invite others to hear our glad message. If you happen to meet some missionaries, humor me. Listen to them. Ask them to bear their testimony. It just might change your life.

 

Se quiero siempre. (I love you all, always)

-Hermana Skidmore

On Fridays we have picnics with our zone.

Our Zone Leader, Elder Langi, from Hawai'i.

Elder Corkriel from home and my home teacher at BYU!

The Fam

Cleaning bathrooms for service time, HELLOOO urinals.

Cookies from Destiny, shout out to Dmoney!

Sister Hart and I.

#SegundoSemana

HOLA!!!

So I'll just dive right in!

- My District is HORRIBLE at singing. It's actually hilarious. But my new favorite hymns are 'How Great Thou Art' & 'Come, Come Ye Saints', if you want to know why, read the lyrics (: Good stuff right there.

- The MTC has special morning classes for the Sisters so we don't get fat. My favorite day is Yoga day, which requires like zero effort hahaaha. I actually love it. I"M SO GRANOLA NOW WHATUPP!

- My comp and I like to laminate anything that we can so if we take really good notes we say #LaminateIt haha I don't know if that's funny or not.. MTC humor... haha.

- I LOVE MY ZONE! Which is like 4 Districts combined to make up a Zone. We tell stories at meals and are super close. I freel really blessed to have them because we're like a family. I don't know if all zones are like that but we are and it's great! The other day, Elder Summers (An Elder from another District) bore his testimony in Church (which is where you state your beliefs and how the Gospel has blessed your life, that kind of thing) and he was like "I love you guys and I'm so grateful for a zone that looks good TODOS LOS DIAS." Which means every day.. in spanish. He said TODOS LOS DIAS like 5 more times before he was done because that's the only phrase he could remember hahaah. He leaves for Mexico on Monday hahahaha. He's great.

Now about my Investigators (which are people looking into the Church that the missionaries teach):

My comp and I are teaching Benjamin and Gabi! They are actually our teachers acting like investigators but they are such good actors and they're representing real people from their own missions so it's super legit.

Anyway, this past week - We taught Gabi about prayer. She is from Argentina and her life is just hard. Her husband got hurt at work and her kids are sick. When we "visited" her (knocked on the door of a classroom and pretended it was her house) she seemed really down. We told her that she has a loving Father in Heaven that wants to hear from her. We explained that God is like our Earthly fathers, he loves us and wants to know what's up! So we taught her to pray "Dear Heavnely Father.... give thanks.. and ask for the things she needs... and end en el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen." It was incredibe. I already have such a deep love for her. I want her to know of the happiness that the Gospel brings. She makes me think about the people in Sac (ew I hate that I have to use that word.. haha) waiting for me to help them come unto Christ. Errbody out there, I would challenge you to get on your knees tonight, and pray out loud to your Heavenly Father. Ask him if He's there. Then wait. See how you feel. The love of God manifests itself as peace. Happiness. Comfort. Everyone needs a little bit more of those things in their lives, don't cha think?

Now Benjamin. Loved him from the Moment we walked in the door. he's 20 years old and his girlfriend is a member of the Church. He decided to take the missionary discussion because his girlfriend wanted him to. He reminds me of my friends back home mixed with my brothers. He's a super chill guy and he wants to be a doctor. We get along realy well and get along with him/joke with him etc. He doesn't really undersand the need for religion but we taught him about Heavnely Father and how he WANTS to hear from us. We asked Benjamin if he wanted to be even MORE happy than he already is. He was like uhh yeah? So we taught him about prayer, too. It was really cool. I LOVE hearing people pray out loud for the first time. Can't wait to teach him again.

I used to tweak out before going to teach a lesson, but I've realized the more I rely on the Spirit, the less scared I am. I don't have to pee 37 times before we knock on the door and I can speak the Spanish that I've practiced. It's such a blessing. I'm learning slowly but surely that I can't do this on my own. It's all about team work with our biggest allies - Heaveny Father, Jesus Christ & The Spirit. Separate beings. All with the same purpose.

A few things to think about:

- I heard a talk this week in which the Sister told a story about a mother who ONLY read the first verse of the Book of Mormon and knew it was true. She was worried about her kids and when she read "I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents." she was like shoot, I want to be a goodly mother. and Bam. Gospel changed her life.

- I would challnege anyone reading this to read the first verse of the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 1:1 and think about how what Nephi says applies to you. Ponder, pray, do what you gotta do. Then act on the impressions you get. You won't be disappointed, promise. http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/1?lang=eng

Also read D&C 68: 1-5. (http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/68?lang=eng) Replace "Orson Hyde" with you own name and consider your purpose as a missionary, whether full time or in your daily life. We are disciples of Christ in our thoughts, words, and actions. I wear His name right next to my own on my name tag, right over my heart. Everything I do, is in His name. No pressure or anything, right? haha. But really, I love it. This is going to be the best adventure ever.

 QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

-"LLEGAR A SER!" - it means (To become) in espanol! That's kind of my theme for my mission. And it's the goal of life if you think about it.. to become better, more like Christ, to "llegar a ser" like our Heavenly Father.

- AHH YEAH THAT"S MY LADY JAM!!! - my zone says this about anything that we like.. hahaaha

- "I want to walk out of there crying!" - My comp before a lesson haha we haven't had a lesson go really badly yet haha.

- "I came to deliver the lost sheep. Get inside!" - Elder Langi - He's from hawaii and he found 2 Elders from my District out in the hallway so that's what he said when he opened the door to let them back into our classroom haha.

- "Missionary work is awkward but that's okay!" - My maestra - Hermana Runyon - She's bomb!!

- "Hashtag Finger wave" - My maestro - Hermano Peterson, one of the best teachers I've had in my life. He uses social media terms in his lessons - I can dig it!

- "Hang on! Let me pray then I want to hear your story...#missionaryProbz!" - haha at dinner when our zone is together. everyone has to pray over their food before we all get caught up in conversation!

- TENGO GOZO EN MI ALMA HOY! = I have joy in my soul today! It's the spanish equivalent of the Hymn, "There is sunshine in my soul today!". But my district gets realllll animated when we sing it. haha. TENGO GOZO! so fun to say!

Read 2 Nephi 22:2 - In TRC this week we visitied with an older couple that was supposed to talk to us in spanish but talked to us in English.. hahaa. This is their fav. scripture and I love it! http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/22?lang=eng

OKAY LOVE YOU ALL! MUCHO MUCHO AMOR!

The Savior performed the Atonement and suffered for our sins. The hard part is over. So All is well. Todo es bien.

- Hermana Eskiiiidmas.

Morgan And Cameron right before going to the MTC

Morgan and Hermana Davidson

Elders get stir crazzy studying so long

haha language mishaps

Morgan and her companera

just a quick serenade

Erin was at the temple

There are a lot of people who need to wash their clothes