Transfers again...

Dear Family,

Well, transfers are TOMORROW! This transfer has really snuck up on me. Sister Farber is leaving me :( I am sooo bummed! It really felt like we just barely got paired up. I think the longer you are on your mission, the more time just seems to warp and go faster and sometimes slower. It's a strange thing, I tell ya. As always, I am really nervous about getting a new companion! On Saturday night when we found out that she was leaving, I was writing in my journal about how nervous I was for a new companion, and I flipped in my journal to when I was getting transferred out of Colfax and it almost said the exact same thing. Haha. So I remembered it's normal that I am always nervous to get a new companion. Missions are such a funny thing. Being with someone ALL THE TIME that you don't even get to choose. But it's a really good learning experience. The one thing I am happy for with transfers though is that I will see Sister Rendon tomorrow! I love that girl. She is finally leaving Colfax, and she said she has been wanting to leave for a while, but now she is kind of sad! Speaking of Colfax- I told dad, but Bro. Tucker got called to be the bishop! Not really surprising, but what a big change! 

This week was SO adventurous. Really adventurous. Haha. In the past on our bike week we have ridden the bus a TINY bit. Like we would take it from the church to down the street. But this week we actually used it to get places. So a few of our days consisted of...

-A 35 minute walk to the bus stop

-Riding that bus to the main transportation center downtown (8 miles from our house)

-Taking another bus to get to the area the church is in (5 miles frpm downtown)

-And then sometimes taking a connector bus that runs by the church.

And all of that takes like 3 hours to get to an appointment. Hahaha. The public transportation is totally not reliable here, but it's better than walking down the same roads every bike week! At any given bus stop, it only comes every hour. So one day this week we were waiting for the bus and it was terribly late, and by the time it got us to the place where we were supposed to catch the next bus, the next bus had left 10 minutes prior. So then it is a 50 minute wait until the next one! Haha. All the missionaries laugh at us when we tell them what we do, but I don't even care! Everyone in the entire zone besides the missionaries we car share with are full- time car. So they just don't understand ;) The best thing though that we saw this week was that Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much for all of our efforts. I like to think when we don't have the best situation in life, that if we do all we can and put our best effort out, He will bless us. Even if it's not the most efficient thing in the world and you have 3 hours of travel time... ;) 

It's green Again!!

But He blessed us because we met SO many people this week while riding the bus. And not even just saying hi to people, but we actually talked about the gospel and got contact information from them! One day when we were at the transportation center, we were waiting for our bus and sat next to this young black man that has a pretty large growth on his face. Sister Farber and I both knew we needed to talk to him when we talked about it afterwards! But we just started talking to him (his name is Dan) about the bus schedule and then started chatting about what he does and what we do. He is a student at one of the colleges and is going into computer tech. We gave him our phone number and the address to the church before he left for his bus. Later that night we were talking about him and right then we got a text from him saying that he had a question and he wanted to know what our church services were like! He said that he wouldn't be able to come this Sunday, but he would like to come the next! And he asked if it was ok if he brought his family too (IT'S MORE THAN OK!!) :D So that was great :) 

I think another blessing is that I have somehow been able to navigate the bus system. I am usually TERRIBLE at things like that, but I have been blessed with some abilities! I feel like a regular old city-slicker now ;) Sister Farber and I have been really grateful that even though we are in a difficult situation when we don't have the car, that we have had the opportunity to solve our own problems! Even though riding the bus is totally exhausting and not reliable and disgusting at times, I was very very grateful this week :) 

Thursday night we had a GREAT night! Seriously, people must have been praying really hard for us or something. We had an appointment at 7:30 with Aliyah, and had invited a young sister from the ward to come too (they're both black. you'd be surprised what a big difference it makes when you are teaching someone who is black and you bring someone who is also black. They feel like they relate to them a lot more. It makes sense though. It would be weird if I thought I was the only white person in a church I was thinking of going to) BUT then Sister Bagley said she wanted to come out with us to appointments on Thursday night. So we were trying to find someone that we could go see with her, and we got a hold of Johnny (finally! he hasn't answered for a while) and then he told us he would not be around in the evening, but we could see him on Monday. Yay for that, but then we still didn't have anyone to see with Sis. Bagley. RIGHT after Jimmy hangs up, Sister Farber answers another call and says "great! We'll see you tonight!" And Wayne, a man who we met while trying to find a less-active, wanted to meet with us that night! So Sister Bagley picks us up and we get in the car and she says "good news! I have an appointment for us at 8:00 tonight to see a non-member friend of mine, if you're available!" Whaaat? Haha. So we went and saw Wayne at 6:30, and then Aliyah at 7:30, and then Sister Bagley's friend at 8:30, one right after the other. It was a bike week miracle. 

Everything else has been going well! So much happened this week! Haha. I can't wait to tell you so much more when I get home. There are a lot of crazy stories... 

Sister Farber took this picture before she realized something was off...

Something super funny that happened this week - Sister Farber lost her camera (that wasn't the funny part) but she found out the Elders had picked it up last P-day and they would give it to her at District Meeting. Sister Farber was all nervous because she takes so many crazy pictures that I don't even know about! Haha she mentioned something about a video she hoped they didn't watch. When they gave her back the camera they were just laughing and laughing, when we got home she was like "I never showed you that video??" It was this video that she took of herself totally dancing all-out to the Popcorn Popping song that mom put on my iPod, the one from Singles Ward that sounds super funny? It was the funniest video I have ever seen on my mission. She was SO into it and it looked like a hip-hop routine or something, she had recorded it while I was in the shower. I laughed SO hard. She is the funniest sister in the mission, I am sure of it. There really is no other missionary in the whole mission like her :) I really am going to miss her. It's so weird to go from being with someone all the time, to NEVER. 

So we are waiting at the bus stop and I look at Sister Farber and I said "Look at your name tag!!!" She had grabbed one of my other name tags! Hahaha. This is a picture she took of herself  before she realized... All day people were so confused!!

We have some AMAZING women in this ward. There are just so many good role models here. One of them is Sis. Faulkner- she is the Relief Society president and she is just amazing. She is probably 50 or so, but she is just strong, and also so sweet and caring, and always gets things done, and overcomes REALLY hard challenges with such grace. She is always on top of things, too. Another sister I love is Sister Wilson, I probably haven't even mentioned her before. She is really busy, but she is a returned missionary who is now married and has two kids (there are SO many returned sister missionaries in this ward. Like 10 or more. She is actually only two years younger than mom but her oldest is 2! Anyway, she is also such a strong lady who is super independent but also totally loves her husband. Last night we had dinner with her and she got all animated and said "Sisters, BE PICKY! Be so picky with who you choose to marry" I think I realized what I love a lot about both of these sisters is that they just make everyone feel so understood and loved and cared about. I have realized I meet some people that will talk and talk to you and they don't even ask your name. Which is totally fine, I am not offended or anything, but I just SO admire people who do such a good job at asking others about themselves and who can have a really good conversation with anyone they meet. Anyway, Sister Wilson is also a voice teacher and is in charge of music for the ward and she said "I want you to sing in church! I heard you singing today!" So she had us sit at the piano and we just sang through a hymn, and then she said she wanted me to stand where she could see my mouth as I sang, and then she totally went into voice teacher mode! It was SO nice!! I have sung a lot on my mission, but it's usually just running through the music a few times and making sure I know the notes and the words and then just going for it. But she was like pinching my mouth and having me do different exercises to help get my sound out more, haha it was like flashback to the voice lessons days! She is so great. Anyway. 

I just love all the things I get to learn and experience. I've learned so much more than I ever thought I would on my mission! You learn a whole lot more than how to teach the Restoration. That is the truth :) I am so excited for Heather and Landen to serve! I am so so grateful you have let me have such a great experience by coming out here! It is SO hard. SO SO SO HARD SOMETIMES! But it is also probably the best thing to help me have a good start on the rest of my life :) Mosiah 24:14-15 is so great. And I have learned a new way to look at it. The Lord doesn't always just take away the burdens altogether when He promises to make them light, but sometimes He strengthens US so that the load feels lighter! Have you been still reading the Book of Mormon together? I hope so!! :) 

I love you all! 

Sister Adams