Life on the Res. Week 17 - We Almost Died!

*****WARNING: The first half of this email was written last Pday which
we didn't get to finish because of service and you are hearing from me
today because yesterday's pday was spent driving with Sister
Thumstedter to Snowflake for a baptism of a family she worked with
when she served up there. Also next week Pday will be on Wednesday
again because it is transfers week and I am finally getting a
companion! I AM NOT DEAD, I AM VERY MUCH ALIVE, I PROMISE! Love you
guys :)*****


 I know this may be throwing you all for a loop, but turns out we did
service for almost all of our PDay yesterday so we got special
permission to finish our emails today!
     I never really know where to start these letters so I hope you
guys don't think I am crazy and this scatter brained all the time,
there is just so much to tell and I tend to forget and go on and on...
but anyway! Whew, this week. It feels like the days here last forever
but the weeks go by so fast! I'm not really sure how that works, but
it does.
  I guess I will start with the fact that Sister Hess went home this
morning! I am yet again the "last of the mohicans".... jut kidding, I
mean I am back in the trio with the Spanish sisters I live with most
of the time, but we were able to find some members to come out with me
during some days so the work is a little more balanced the next two
weeks. On the bright side, all of our lessons will have a member
present!
  This week was full of things to do with meetings, the holiday, and
sharing the god message of the Gospel with the people here in Mesa/
Scottsdale. We had exchanges on Tuesday with our Sister Training
Leaders, which is just when we switch companions for the day so that
our leaders can evaluate how well we are doing and give us advice on
how we can be more effective and happier. I went with Sister Colina
into, you guessed it, Spanish work for the day. I may not have been
called Spanish speaking but by the end of these few weeks I could
probably hold my own!
  Well for Thanksgiving we tried our best to stay busy but there are
only so many things that you can do in your apartment... we did have
three dinners though, that was very fun, and so filling! Holy Moses,
it was a LOT of food. We helped out with the state Turkey Trot and
then for service we made birthday cards for homeless children with the
other missionaries in our zone. It was a long day because we couldn't
do much proselyting work but it was fun to do all the service. On
Friday we did a sisters workshop where we were with the other sisters
in our zone and we learned about things to do on the mission to stay
happy and healthy. We got to do each others make up and hair and those
things and it was SO FUN! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the sister we serve around,
they are so amazing and you can just see the Spirit radiating from
them.
  We have been able to go to the visitor's center with some of our
investigators this past week or so and it has been really cool. When
we went with Victor and Rozlyn I ran into a frond from our stake at
home, Ali! It was so fun to see her! Of course we had to get a
picture...
  We (and by we I mean I because I STILL don't have a full time
companion) have been trying our best to teach all the time, but it
seems like Heavenly Father really wants me to learn something,
probably patience. But while we were trying to visit a less active
family on Sunday we were able to meet the family that lives next door
and they said they wanted us to come back and teach them! The father
is a less active member, turns out, but the kids are all unbaptized
and the mom is not in the picture anymore. They are a pretty sweet
family and I am so thankful that we were there at just the right time
to get to meet them!
  And now you get to hear the story I know you wanted to read from the
moment you saw the heading of this email! We have been trying to
contact this referral, Matt, for a while now and he has never been
home to meet us (yet!) but the other time we went over it was
daylight, not scary at all. This night on the other hand it was around
6:30 (aka complete darkness on the Rez in winter time) and we decide
to go check on him. So as we are walking up to the door we see a dog
and think, aww cool I didn't notice that before... and then we get
close and see it's a doberman and he's growling at  us. AND if that
wasn't scary enough, four more of them come out of nowhere! By this
point we had made it to the front door but that meant we were trapped!
Mat wasn't answering the door either... I was so scared! I was jumping
and squeaking at every bark and growl coming from those dogs. I am not
conditioned for this at all! We decided we couldn't run back to the
car cause that would make them madder, and they would totally outrun
me....We slowly inched back to the car, miraculously without being
devoured. If I learned anything, it is to always carry a Book of
Mormon, especially around possessive dogs. And never go to Matt's
house at night time... I made it another week on the Pima- Maricopa
Indian Reservation. I'm not dead yet!

WEEK 2:
  Luckily for you not too much happened this week so you won't have to
keep reading for too much longer! We had some really good days, and
some not as good days... There have been quite a few interruptions in
our normal schedule so it is easy to feel like we aren't being as
productive as normal. I'm excited to get my brand new, very own,
companion next week!  The coolest thing that we did this week was get
to meet Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the presidency of the 70. He came to
our mission and gave us a really cool training. He told president that
he thinks that our mission is very obedient! While he was speaking to
us he talked about a lot of different things, especially out of Preach
My Gospel. It seemed to a lot of us that he spoke quite a bit on
marriage and preparing for that part of our lives, which is a little
different topic to speak to a bunch of *obedient* missionaries.. it
was still really amazing! He also spent a big amount of time talking
about the parable of the 10 virgins and how it is comparable to the
temple. We can't borrow some one else's oil (temple recommend), you
will be turned away just like the 5 foolish virgins. He told us to
never let the time of our oil (recommend) lapse, lest you be
unprepared when the bridegroom comes and tells us "ye know me not".
  Hope this wasn't too long of a read for all of you! I love you guys!

Love,
Sister Welch

PS. Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! It really was an
awesome day! I got to spend most of it at church!