Life on the Res - Week 4

The work here is awesome. I absolutely LOVE Sister Havea! We have such
good times together and we really balance each other out in the
lessons. We have quite a few progressing investigators. We actually
are having a baptism this Saturday! A 9 yr old boy whose family was
less active but we have been teaching them and they are so great! We
also have four other people on date for baptism at the end of the
month! We also got FREE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. It like made my life. And
fried bread. It's like the best thing ever. I have to say my favorite
part about the mission so far is every night at dinner time. All of
the missionaries that are serving on the reservation have dinner
together with the members every night and at the end we always leave
with a spiritual thought or scripture. We also have gotten into
singing a hymn every time. It is so amazing, the Spirit gets so strong
and has actually brought people to tears. I absolutely love this
gospel. I know it is the true gospel of Jesus Christ restored to the
earth today. I have prayed about it and received my own witness. I
hope this letter finds you all well. I love hearing from you all! Your
letters through out the week definitely lift my spirits and I love
them! I was asked by a Spanish speaking elder in my zone last night
how many times I have packed my bags to go home. And I looked at him
confused and said...none? He told me he has packed his bags to go home
at least ten times this week, and that made me realize that I am
really sure his is where I am supposed to be. I mean I love and miss
you all but I'm not coming home any time soon :) I love it too much.
Love and prayers,
Sister Welch

Pretty much my comp and I have way too much fun together....

 

Arizona News - Week 3

Holy cow this week has been a crazy one! Even crazier than last week! Last Friday night we added up going to the emergency room because my companion, Sister Johnson, was having severe back pain. But after being there for like five and a half hours and a bajillion X-rays later they still couldn't find a reason for all of the pain. They ended up just giving her pain meds and some stretching exercises. I have to say though, it was nice to get out of the MTC for a while. It was so weird that there was actual normal life in the outside world! Saturday was just go go go all day like normal and then Sunday. Holy cow it was fantastic. That was when we got to sing with the Nashville Tribute Band. I loved it so much. The spirit was so strong! If you have heard of that band! LOOK THEM UP THEY ARE SO GOOD. And thenMonday was the day! We flew out at 6:30 which was late compared to all the other missionaries who left at 3:30!!! Two initial words about Arizona. It's hot. We just about died after getting off the plane. And we went to the mission home where we met with president and sister Sweeney and practiced street contacting. And then they sent us into the real world. To talk to real people. Not the fake ones they make us teach in the MTC. AAAAHHHHH. IT WAS SO SCARY! We ended up contacting in old town Scottsdale which is so cute by the way! We didn't see too much success but we did get a lady's address and she said we could stop by for some water some time. And we were like yeah! Sure we will stop by for some water (aka in missionary language: stop by and teach all of the lessons :)). By the time we got back to the apartment we were sleeping at that night, we were all dead tired and went right to sleep. I have never sweat so much in my life. Like even in places I couldn't sweat. And then it was Tuesday. We went over to the church where we have transfers and did some training for driving and iPads. And then around one we got to meet our trainers. I know the church is true and that Jesus loves me you know why? Because not only do I get the best trainer ever. She is from Tonga. But wait. There's more! WE ARE SERVING ON THE INDIAN RESERVATION!!!! The two things I wanted from my mission and I get them right off the bat! I can't decide if that is a good omen and the rest of my mission is going to rock, or if my luck all came at the beginning and its gonna be a rough 18 months.... Haha we taught two lessons this morning because here we do p day so that we work in the morning and relax in the evening because it gets too hot. Jsyk I can read emails as soon as I get them but I can't reply until p day, which is usually Monday but was different this week because of transfers. Also president Sweeney is super cool about music so we can listen to lots of things and mostly leaves it for our own discretion. Which makes me so happy!! I can listen to music again! Yay! I'm loving serving in the res. it's so fan freaking tastic. I miss you guys and love hearing from all of you!  I'm gonna attach a pic of me and Sister Havea (my trainer). I don't have my camera so I'll send the rest if the pictures Monday :)

Quote of the week: "Pray like it all depends on God. Work like it all depends on you."

All my love! 

Sister Welch

News from Sr. Welch.

Holy cow this week has been crazy! It is so true when people say that the days go by so fast after Sunday! All of the sisters in my district are leaving Monday morning for the real live actual mission field... it's crazy! The MTC experience is a crazy one in itself, but I am so glad to have the companion and the district that I do because they make it a ton easier. It's insane how we have only known each other for a little over a week and we are all so close, it's like having another family here. Unfortunately we are not all going to the same mission but we are going to stay in touch for sure! Our district decided to sing in the MTC choir while we are here and you will never guess who we are singing with...... THE NASHVILLE TRIBUTE BAND!!!!! They are coming on Sunday for a special performance and asked the MTC choir to sing to chorus parts to some of their songs! How awesome is that?!?! So here at the MTC we have investigators just like real missionaries (well I guess we are real missionaries too....) and we teach them after class every night. Sister Johnson and I are teaching two college age girls, Elizabeth and Carolina. Elizabeth is from China and grew up Buddhist so we have to take it really slow with her. We have mostly been teaching about faith and the atonement and how it relates to her personally. Carolina on the other hand is just eating it up! (feasting on the word.. haha) our lessons with her are just getting better and better and last night she said that after she learns a little bit more she wants to be baptized!!!! That is a spiritual high like no other. I love Carolina so much, she has an amazing spirit and her testimony is growing everyday. After our lesson we get evaluated to see what we need to improve on and what areas we do well in. Our teacher, Brother McClain, told Sister Johnson and I that if we knew how good we are that we would stop trying. That definitely helped boost my mood! Sometimes here it is really hard and I am being humbled every day. I am learning so much about how to effectively teach and love those that I am serving around. Love you all bunches! Keep me updated  on the real world!

Love, 

Sister Welch

Scripture of the week: Matthew 28:19 

Scottsdale News - Week 1

Holy Hannah these past few days have been crazy!!!! I swear one day here feels like a whole week, we do so much stuff all the time! But that is totally a good thing! Idle hands are the devil's playground right? Haha. The journey to the MTC was an interesting one that's for sure! I had a three hour layover in Atlanta where I met an elder that was also travelling to the MTC! So that was pretty cool, and when we boarded the plane for Salt Lake City we met like fifteen elders that were going home! And this is where the spiritual experiences began. I hadn't even gotten to the MTC and I was being taught! The elders asked where we were going and after Elder Jones said he was going to Taiwan I said "oh I'm just going to Scottsdale, Arizona." Then Elder Jones looked at me and said "you're not just going to Scottsdale, you're going to Scottsdale!" (okay I realize that doesn't sound very different, but out loud put emphasis on just and the second Scottsdale...). And when he said that it kind of struck me. Even though it isn't anywhere exotic like Taiwan, Arizona is where I am supposed to be because that is where the Lord needs me.

 Nothing much else happened until I got to the MTC ( a little late apparently... ooops) and we jumped right into classes and devotionals. Because I was late I just jumped in a companionship and did't get to meet my actual comp, Sister Johnson, until after dinner. There are six sisters in my room but only four of us are in the same district. FUN FACT: in the other companionship in my district is a Sister Israelsen from Logan, Utah! We are pretty sure she is related to Stan and DeNae but haven't really had too much tome to talk about it. Her companion, Sister Thumstedter, is from Chicago and I absolutely love her. They are both pretty fantastic actually! My companion, Sister Johnson, is from Eagle Mountain, Utah so not too far from where we are now. She is amazing, always smiling and positive! She has a lot to teach me that's for sure! FUN FACT 2: One of my friends from BYU is in my district! It is so weird and hard to call him Elder Muaka! Another sister in my zone is from my ward at BYU but I haven't seen her yet. I see so many more people that I know than I thought I would! 

We have been learning a lot about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our purpose as missionaries. I am already learning and growing so much! We have done some role playing already, which can be a little stressful, but our teacher is amazing and knows how to help us say just what we need to. I don't think I have ever prayed so much before in my life. Ever. I think my new mantra is going to be "I can do hard things" I say that all the time now. I know this is going to be hard, but it is also so worth it. I know this is where I am supposed to be. I know I was placed with the people I am for a reason and that I am to learn something from all of them. I absolutely LOVE my district, they are fantastic, we get along so well, and their testimonies are amazing. I can't wait to see what else I can learn from them!

I love you guys SO much!! I forgot to bring my cord to send pictures, but I will totally make a note for next week! 

All my love, 

Sister Rebecca Welch

Scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 5: 13

P.S. I also forgot my list of emails in my room so if you wanna forward this to anyone, feel free :) 

P.P.S. packages are always nice.... hint hint :)