The Sunny Side of Life: New Comp...Same Area...Always Pumped

Me and Hna Garner celebrating our first day as companions :)

Well another Great week in the Greatest Mission in the World in the Greatest Area in the World! I am so pumped that I get to be in this area another transfer and am excited to see what Sister Garner and I can do here.

And Sister Garner is my new companion! She has been out 10ish months (its complicated) and has killer Spanish. She already has her masters for teaching Theater and English and has the most amazing voice ever (lol at me always getting put with talented companions). Also she shares my love for the McDonalds ice cream so #CompUnity. She has already taught me a lot and I am pumped to continue to grow together as a companionship! She is most recently from New Jersey so #EastCoastPride. We gonna rock this transfer I just know it!

It was hard to say goodbye to Sister Shaffer though! We had a blast together and we definitely learned a lot. I will forever be grateful for her and her bomb example. But she is totally going to whip them into shape up there in Gilbert for which I couldn't be prouder *wiping away motherly tears*.

But this week.....to be honest I don't really remember much. We had days where we got in with everyone and days we got in with almost no one. BUT all of our investigators are progressing for the most part.

Jimmy is doing awesome!! He has almost quit smoking completely and is counting down the days to his baptism on the 26th....also his barbecue place should open soon so that is exciting. I now know the secrets to making amazing barbecue but unfortunately I have been sworn to secrecy so..... but free barbecue in the future??? I can only hope.

ALSO GLORIA GETS BAPTIZED THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!! Ugh I cannot tell you all how excited I am. She is the most special person in the whole world and she'll get to watch the Tuscon Temple get dedicated with us! I feel like I have been waiting for this moment since I got here. She was the first person I found. First person I taught everything too. First person I get to help be baptized! She truly has a special place in my heart.

Sister Garner and I also got to see some cool miracles this week! First one was with a former investigator named Carina. When I was with Sister Cedeno we had stopped visiting her because she told us she wasn't willing to change even if she got an answer. We were really bummed but knew there were other people we had to focus on. Well we ended up one day (completely unplanned) being in the area where she lives. For some reason I couldn't stop thinking about her and so we decided to just drop by and see how she was. Well we caught her as she was coming out the door and talked with her a little bit. Turns out her brother had just passed and she invited us to come back. It was amazing and the spirit was just so strong as we were able to testify about the plan our Heavenly Father has for us.

Then in church yesterday a member grabbed us out of Gospel Principles and ran us to the door. I was a little confused but he introduced us to Ruby and Veronica. They are 11 and 16 and have come to church THE PAST 3 SUNDAYS and AREN'T MEMBERS. Let me tell you that the power of Girls Camp is real.

Funny moments include meeting an English convert who told us about when her family tried to "exorcise the Mormon demons out of her"...at her moms funeral. Guess it didn't work because she is still going strong but it was a high key hilarious story. Another funny moment involved sister Garner and I getting stuck in a Monsoon. In 2 minutes I was literally soaked but blessed because Nohelia let us AND SHE BOUGHT ME A NEW BAG. She told me that she was tired of seeing mine held up by duct tape lol. Also she lost it but it's the thought that counts. I love my investigators.

Well this is a super long email but I love love love love my mission! It can be hard and rough but also AMAZING AND GREAT. Also today is my 6 month mark which is crazy because it means Im a third of the way done....weird.

To the Moon and Back!
Hermana Showalter