Come what May, and Love the crap out of it

Aloha Fam!

Here's some of my favorite quotes of the week, some things that I either heard or read:

- "If Idaho isn't giving you all the sunshine and smiles, you gotta provide fo your brothers and sisters." -Jo Tueller

- "When we're friends, everything will be better!" -Elder Melo (from Braziiiiiil!)

- "I'm not here to receive praise and appreciation, I'm here for my Savior. And when I trust Him and work hard, I'll see miracles." -Sister Hansen

- "Come what may, and love it" -(A talk that I read - don't remember the speaker lol)

Before I left Burley, Hermana Allen told me over and over again, "You're gonna see so many miracles in Boise!" And (of course) she was right. Every week since I've been in Boise with Hermana Sundstrom, there have been absolute miracles in the mission work here. We have been running around like crazy, trying to find people to teach, running out of miles, exhausted, and yet are so full of happiness. I was talking with her last night - we had 6 people make commitments to come to Church and only one showed up - and although it wasn't our goal, we were sooooo incredibly happy that this one investigator came and felt the Spirit! We said to each other, even if no one had come, we still would have been happy. Because we know that Heavenly Father is proud of the work we are doing. 

This week we were blessed to be able to set a baptismal date with the Familia Cortes - the Mom, Cecy, and her two sons, Mario and Ramon. They have decided to read the Book of Mormon each day as a family on their own. Que milagro, right?! I don't know how these things happen, but it's way sweet to see. They are an incredible family and I have finally realized that Boise Idaho is exactly where I need to be serving (took me long enough right?). 

Also, me and Hermana Sundstrom had a hard day and didn't have a dinner, so we went and ate at the Cheesecake factory (I don't think I'll ever stop talking about the goob foods in Boise heh) 

Here's some things that I saw this week that reminded me of home!

- I went to Dutch Bros and got a smoothie and the guy that was working was Hunter Hancock's brother (or cousin or something) from the North Shore and he had just gotten back from Oahu like 2 days ago. And he gave us these huge mango smoothies fo free, how blessed?

- I saw someone walking in Downtown Boise that looked exactly like Pam Palmer! And I was reminded of my L2 family!

- I taught some Pidgin to Hna Sundstrom. She is actually like one native Pidgin speaker cuz she has picked it up pretty fast. Going be one native hayn soon ahhhhhh

Love you all! Thank you for all of your prayers and support. The talk that I read this week was entitled "Come what may, and love it" and I took this as my theme for the rest of my mission (let's see if I remember it next week haha). Because you never know what's gonna come! But just love it! It sometimes seems like the end of the freaking world, but you're gonna be okay in the end! So laugh through it and love through it. My heart is full of straight up cherreh love for you all - if you love me, write me back! 

Hermana Elkington 

Mongolian BBQ & other Nuggets of Magic

Aloha Fam,

First off, Hermana Sundstrom and I got gift cards from the crazy members here in Boise and she took me to this magical place called Mongolian BBQ and I exploded with happiness. It was awesome - you put all the stuff you want in a bowl and they cook it on this rock thing and push it around with some sticks and it was some goooooooooob food. 

Some other cool things happened this week as well - we got 2 of our investigators on a Baptismal Date for August 12th! They are awesome and love having us come over. This week, if you could keep Charlene and Angel in your prayers that they will want to come to Church and feel the spirit, that'd just be greeeeeat haha - It's been so cool to see the Lord's hand in the work here.

Another cool thing - while I was on exchanges, I found this family that lives behind one of the Menos Activos we teach and we went and talked to them. Me and Hermana Sundstrom taught them this week - we did the Restoration and while we were talking, I just saw in their eyes that they were feeling the spirit. They are from Mexico and have been here for about a month now - when we asked them what they thought about all of the things we were telling them, the Mom replied with a simple, "That feels right to me." It was super neat to be able to be in tune with Heavenly Father and feel for myself that the things that we were teaching were true. 

We've had a crazy, stressful, miracle filled week - here's some of the ways I saw the hand of God in my life this week: 

- We got to see Elder Melo! He is from Brazil and cracks us UP

- A lady we had dinner with brought us cotton-candy flavored grapes the next morning just cuz she thought of us!

- We got 3 jars of applesauce from a family

- We had an awesome sidewalk-chalk lesson with one of our Investigators

- We didn't get lost ;)

Lastly, our Ward Mission Leader came with us to a lesson this week and after we were done, he came up to us and told us thank you for how hard we are working. He said that it's been hard to work with some of the missionaries in the past and that he's so thankful to have us here, and just said thank you for being such great missionaries. It was definitely something I needed, because sometimes you do all this work and no one really sees it but Heavenly Father - so it was cool that Hno. Quesada took the time to thank us and inspire us. We are really blessed to be able to work with some great people in (crazy) Boise. 

Hope everyone had a stelllllllar week - let me know if there's anything I can do to help you, or if you have any questions about the work here! Thanks for all of your prayers and support #DOITFORIDAHO #JESUSFORIDAHO

Lots of love,

Hermana Elkington

Becoming the Quesadas

We have had a lonnnnnng week - a good week, but a long week. I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life haha, but it's a good, fulfilled kind of tired.

I got some advice from friends for finding people and teaching while you find and guess freaking what - we found 4 new investigators this week! One of them was Emanuel. And holy crap, this guy was just such a huge blessing in the work here. He was a referral from some Elders and he just is the coolest! He has a construction company and is from Mexico, and has only been in the US for about 2 months now. We knocked on his door and HE was the one who made the return appt. So we go by on Friday with our Ward Mission Leader and his wife, the Quesada's, and we teach him. And the Quesada's just owned the lesson, invited him to church, and even extended a baptismal invitation and I'm like what? When they teach you this stuff in the MTC you don't think it actually works like that, and I still think about 90% of the time it doesn't, but Emanual just loved it. He committed to coming to church and wants to learn more.

So - our new transfer goal is to BECOME THE QUESADAS. They are goalzzzzzzz x100 I kid you not. (Also, they are super cute and got married like a year ago and are still like fresh of the mission kind of, and they are super chill and just help us a ton and also make us ono grindz)

Another miracle that happened this week - we got invited to attend a Sealing of some people in our Branch. It was actually so neat to go to the temple and see them get sealed - in Spanish! It was really simple (I had never seen a sealing before) and it made me just feel so special - I hardly know these people, I just got to Boise, and they invite me to go to their Sealing? It was really cool, and I can't believe how blessed I am to serve around these people and learn from them. 

Thank you for all the love and the support and the prayers and everything - I got some letters from some Laie friends and man, it just makes my day and reminds me of my roots and why I'm out here doing this. I love the mission so much - no matter how HARD it gets (and it gets suuuuuper hard haha), the miracles that I see somehow always make up for it. I dunno how it works, but it does. 

Hope everyone has a baller week. Don't forget to breathe! Don't forget to listen to music! Don't forget to have FUN WITH LIFE! (lol things I tell myself everyday haha) Let me know if you have any questions or if you need anything! Love you all SO MUCH

Hermana Elkington

PICS: 

- Me and Hna Sundstrom at the Boise Temple

- Finding the only freaking cows in Boise (I miss the countryyyyy!)

#losthermanas

Howzit my braddahz! 

Me and Hermana Sundstrom have been taking on BOISE and I keep saying, "Hermana, we're not 'Las Hermanas,' we're 'Lost Hermanas!'" It's foreal classic. We are always lost, but have witnessed a crapton of miracles this week.

First off, Hermana Sundstrom is incredible. She is super happy, energetic, willing to work hard, doesn't judge me for being salty about rules, and is an awesome teacher. She teaches with her heart and she makes everyone we teach laugh and the people love her. I am suuuuuuuper #blessed (lol) to have her as a companion, and it makes the tough work here in Boise just that much easier. It has rained a couple times here in Boise and we've just gone outside and ran around in the rain together, being happy! 

This week we have found a buttload of potential investigators, as well as 2 new investigators. Hermana Sundstrom said "I've never had this big of a list of potentials before on the mission!" We are both here to work hard, to get to know the area and the people, and FIND people to teach. Every day is a challenge, but it has been getting easier and easier, and we have definitely just been relying on God to give us a little push here and there to know where we should go. 

Here's one milagro for ya - we felt like we should go visit a less active, Hermana Copinger, and she lives in Boise East, which is pretty far, but we went anyway. We visited her, had a great lesson, and then left, wondering how we should use the last hour of our day, and we saw a name of a less active that neither of us knew. We dropped by her house and knocked, and this lady answered the door - not the less-active we were looking for, but someone who is now on our potential list, who is really excited for us to come back and really wants to talk to us. And here I am standing in the rain like HOLY CRAP God, how does this stuff just fall in my lap?! He is definitely looking out for me, just like always. 

I know there is just chooooke work to do here in Boise, we just have to find it and work hard. We have a great branch and great members who aren't suuuuper excited about mission work, but we're going to try to change that ;) 

Geeeeez this is hard, but this week I received some emails from Aunties and Uncles back in Laie that just warmed my heart and reminded me of my L2 roots! I have so many examples of crazy-boss missionary friends that I love and am trying to incorporate their strengths into my own. Thank you for the advice and the love - know that I love you all so much! 

Hope everyone has a stellar week! Let me know if there's anything that I can do for you, or if you have any questions about the work here in Boise! 

Lots of Love,

Hermana Elkington

BURLEY TO BOISE

Aloooooooha all you GUAVAS! 

This has been one of the hardest weeks of my mission so far. I keep reading all of my friend's emails on how great mission work is and how many people they're helping, and it is so wonderful and makes me feel inspired. But today imma be a little real with you all - because this is one of the hardest things I've ever done. 

I got the call that I was getting transferred from Burley to Boise on Tuesday and hooooly crap did my heart hurt. I remember getting to Burley and just thinking, "what in the WORLD am I doing here?" And it was cold and there was no grass - and then Burley just squeezed it's way into my heart and the leaves and flowers came out and I met some of the best people I've ever met in my whole life. And to leave that was so hard - I had only been there for 2 transfers, about 3 months, and it was so hard! Saying goodbye to people just was killer, but I got a hug from Juan Trinidad (my homeboy) and Araceli and had some great last days with my wonderful companion Hermana Allen (we were #compgoals this transfer and had a buttload of fun while we were together).

And here I am in Boise!

There are cars everywhere and so many people and places to eat and shop and I guess I'm not meant to live in a city because it's crazy and I'm not used to it. It is beautiful here as well though - we have explored downtown Boise and had a BBQ with our little Spanish Branch in a park that was just golden. 

Since I've been in Boise, here are some fun things that have happened:

- I walked some dogs of a Potential Investigator

- Me and Hermana Sundstrom got lost and drove outside of the Mission Boundaries #rebels

- We ate dinner at 5 GUYS

- We were way late in getting home one night (also #rebel)

The work here is so different. We are both new to the area and Hermana Sundstrom, my new companion, has the BIGGEST heart in the whole world and is also the most direction-challenged person I have ever met hahaha so we are just getting lost everywhere we go. I am ready to work and ready to FIND some people to work with, and although the mission sometimes just sucks crap, we are going to help this area become better (with a buttload of help from God). 

Lastly, here are some thoughts that I wanted to share. I received some emails/letters from good friends that I've been reading (to try and help me through this effing mess that's me haha) and here are some things that stood out to me that really helped me:

- "Let go of what you think it means to be a missionary and be YOU"

- "We spend too much time doing things because it's what others expect from us. This is why our love lacks His power - we have to love as HE loved." 

I have a hard time being obedient. I have a hard time figuring out how to balance being a missionary and being me. I have a hard time working with new people, staying with a companion 24/7, and remembering the names of everyone I meet. I have a hard time not being able to go to the beach whenever I want and feel the ocean around me. It's a struggle! But this week I've learned to take a step back and just LOVE. Because we are here as missionaries to spread a message of love - we are here to love. That's it. To love people, to love areas, to love missionaries, and to love God.

Thanks for listening to my rant. I love you all so much, and have learned so much from each and every one of you! If you want to tell me how much you love me (lol) write me or email me! If any of you RM's out there (or missionaries in the field) have any "finding people to teach" techniques, hit me UP! Here's to IDAHO my braddaz! Keep on keepin' on!

Lots of love,

Hermana Elkington