New Area - Redding for Christmas!

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So.... transfers!!! From Small town Gridley to the city of Redding! Redding is SOOO BIG! I have to learn it in 6 weeks!!!!! Because my companion Sister Ford goes home in 6 weeks so that's fun! I'm trying as hard as I can to learn this city and learn the people. It's a lot easier than I expected, but I do feel so lost all the time. I'm excited though. It's fun. Sister Ford is from Minnesota and we've already bonded so much. I love her. I've learned so much from her already in these first five days with her.

First night: My first couple days here have been quite the blur, but pretty awesome. :D The first night I was here, Tuesday, I got here at like 5:30 and we threw my bags in the apartment and we ran off to dinner. We went to Book of Mormon class right after that. Which was AWESOME! I really liked that we asked the guys that were there (there were 3 men) to take some time to think of a question before we started. Or something they wanted their studies to answer. It was really really spirit filled and it helped me realize how I needed to change my own studies.

Thrifty or tipsy? We did service at a thrift store. This thrift store is super organized and the boss is this crazy happy lady that you would think had a little too much to drink. One of the employees we work with is a cross dresser. He doesn't really talk to us that much though.So that's fun too. Haha nobody there is a member. We spent the time wiping down alcohol containers. Some half full. Hmmm... not really fun, but we spent that time getting to know each other, my companion and I. That was fun. Haha

Not a greenie? Brother McOmber is my new Ward mission leader and he's really great! He was just called 3 months ago so he's pretty new. He is driven to do the work, excited, and he loves us. He wants me to talk in Ward council about experiences I have had in my past area getting to eat with less actives and investigators. I was blown away by how I was treated because I have a past area. It's incredibly different when you aren't in your greenie area. At first I was really shy to talk about my past area because it's not like I have all this experience, but I've found I really do! I don't know it all, but I do bring some other experiences to the table and it's great! Another day I was able to use something I learned during my hardest week in the mission. I told my companion what I had learn and how it applied to our situation. My companion thought it was cool and didn't stop talking about it and telling other members and missionaries the whole day. She said it was the best lesson we have had with Judith. It was pretty cool. I've learned a lot from Sister Ford already, but now I feel like I get to use my past experiences and we really do equally help each other. It's pretty awesome.

Is this water sanitary? :D just kidding! It's all sanitary. We all had lunch with this really funny lady named Bonnie who loves feeding all the missionaries. Her food was so good. The house like has no floor. It's crazy. She basically lives in a shack.  I'm not kidding. Her house is like living outdoors. I don't think there was glass on her windows. I think it was sheets. I'm not sure. I can't remember. It makes me very grateful for what I have and I learn so much from her happiness. She feeds us every week!

Inspiring Convert: Another big lesson we had that day was Gabe. We taught Gabe about the priesthood. Gabe is the sweetest, most humble man I know. He is straight awesome. He had to overcome a lot of word of wisdom problems before baptism. He was in a bad place and now he just gets so emotional when he talks about how much his life is changed. He was baptized last Saturday btw. His friends at work are being really mean and really rude to him for joining the church and are always trying to get him to drink something. This is really really hard on him. He is just so sensitive and hates that people are so mean to him. Gabe is a shining example to me. I know that We can change through Christ's atonement and I am so blessed to get to hear Gabe's testimony as I teach him.

For p-day today we played SAND volleyball! In December! Crazy!

Love you guys soooo much!

Love,
Sister Crowther