Ward party and baptism photos 1-28-13

Agustin's baptism!!!

Hello!

It's been a good week! We had Agustin's baptism on Saturday. It was the first baptism i've had that wasn't stressful at all. He was there a half hour early (as usual) and ready to go. Sister Holladay and I sang Nearer My God to Thee which turned out really good considering that we practiced once before. We bought Agustin a tie and he wore it the next day for church and his confirmation with a white shirt :) I wanted to cry! I was so happy. After the baptism I spent like half the time talking to Marta to try and convince her to date Agustin. She turned into a teenage girl, it was so funny... she got so shy and giggly all she said when Agustin walked by was "felicidades" under her breath.  

The night before we had an activity with the ward "the day in the life of a missionary." It was hilarious. It was an obstacle coarse and we timed everyone. First they had to lay on a bed and wake up and then do 5 push ups and then put on a suit jacket and a tie and a backpack. Then they had to search a scripture and then put on a bike helmet and ride to the other side of the stage on a 2 year old scooter bike while little kids were all throwing balls of paper at them and saying "los mormones, los mormones!!" then they had to teach the scripture they read to an "investigator" and then they had to walk by chihuahua's!!   Yes! Real dogs barking at them. Then they had to scarf down a ton of rice for dinner and eat it ALL and then go back into the bed and close your eyes. People are a little more sympathetic to us now haha.

I saw the Barretts on Saturday too!!! That was a really good day. They came and saw me at the VC... best surprise ever. So fun. I have missed Lauren! 

So we hadn't found any new investigators and it was Sunday! So we were scrambling but then guess what? We went back to the first door I ever knocked on and the first person I asked to be baptized.. Dalia. Guess what else? her name isn't really Dalia.. it's Galia. Oops. We taught her the whole time calling her the wrong name. Anyway... she wants us to teach her again! Also 2 other people that I use to each wants us to come back now! So it was a miracle and we met our goal! :) That was the highlights of the week. I will try and send pics. It's better to see this all than for me to talk about it. 

"The feeling that drives you to do good is the Holy Ghost" Sometimes we don't realize just how much God talks to us. Every time we have a good thought.. that comes from God. We can't forget that.. especially through hard times.

Also another thought is to renew your diligence- D&C 127:4.. great scripture. 

Love you all!

SFTE

Hermana Cottrell 

More fun friends visit in AZ at the VC and post on FB!

Lauren Barrett was Sara's first roommate at college! Her father was our home teacher as well.
Lauren is married now but her family owns a business in AZ and they stopped in to see her tonight then posted this on FB! (People behind are not Lauren's  father and mother, just visitors to the VC-)

Cute pictures from Sis. Beckstrands Blog 1-2013

6 BAPTISMS SET Jan 21, 2012

Hi Fam

Happy.... presidents day? I don't even know. But it was a reaaaallly successful week. We are so grateful. We are planning for 6 baptisms coming up and we had almost 25 lessons plus the VC and we found 8 new people to teach one of which had a HUGE picture of the bountiful temple on her wall when we walked in. It's been busy, but really fun. Agustin's baptism is this Saturday and we're really excited. He passed his interview with flying colors. We taught him tithing and he said, "ok well... I get paid on Friday so I will pay it on Saturday, is that okay?" haha 

Do you remember me telling about the ex-nun that I taught over the phone and I told her that babies shouldn't be baptized? She got baptized last Sunday!!! So cool :) 

I was told we could keep the car until they need it even though my ankle is feeling better which is nice. We ride bikes anyway sometimes though because the weather is like perfect now. 

We went to the temple on Friday because it closed this morning for the next two weeks for cleaning. That was really nice! 

Yesterday we had the Presidents Fireside where recent converts come to speak and there are lots of musical numbers and what not. The rule is you can't go unless you have an investigator. So if you go and they don't show up, you have to leave. So we got Agustin a ride (which took forever for some reason) and we knocked on his door to make sure he was ready and he was and we called the member to make sure he was on his way and everything, so we went to the chapel to meet him there and they still weren't there like 20 min later. They got lost and went home and didn't call us! We were so sad because it was Hna Holladay's last one and we had worked so hard to get him there. So we went and knocked on Hectors door. He wasn't answering, so Hna Holladay knocked so hard to get her frustration out that she messed up her knuckles... i just laughed. BUT he opened. He's a 17 year old that is apart of a family of 7. We started teaching him on his porch because no one was home and he basically taught US! While he was talking I was texting his fellowshipper to come and he came! Plus, the rest of the fam showed up too.. So we had the member there and he took Hector and his little sister (who is 9- eligible for baptism too) and we watched Gods Plan for His Family. Hector just lost his Grandpa so it really touched him. We set a date in three weeks! He's so excited and he's already trying to do missionary work with his friends and family. He told us that one time at dinner his family was arguing or something and he said that they should read the Book of Mormon so he did and they were all calm after... what a cool kid. The REALLY cool thing about this though is that when I was first here 8 months ago, I was teaching a lady across the street from their house and all of Hector's little sisters would run up to me and ask me for candy so we would go and invite the mom to church every week, but we never really met/talked to Hector. God was preparing them. It's cool to see the other end of it as I have come back to this area. You never know the influence you have and what Heavenly Fathers timing is. Just gotta trust.

Well that's about it! Hope everyone had a good week. Love you all.

SFTE,

Hermana Cottrell

The chapter is Alma 32

Don't eat when reading this! 1-15-12

Hello family,

It's been a good week. We had our interviews with the president this week, it was good. Mine was short... no complaints :) found out i am going home a week earlier than I expected.

With the new program with the youth, we are getting lots of stake youth groups coming in to do presentations at the VC since the theme is "stand ye in holy places" I got to present one of the first ones, it was really fun. I hope i get called into YW when I get home. We also taught YW in church too. I'm a big supporter of the new programs!

Agustin is progressing really fast! We had one little set back though... he confessed his love to hermana holladay. Did I mention that agustin is 70?? and he thought holladay was 15.. a little messed up. We haven't had much luck getting Marta and him together. I was holding my nose the whole time so I wouldn't laugh out loud. Oh and did I mention that we were teaching the law of Chasity when this all came out? We told him that we are missionaries and that Hna holladay has a boyfriend (even though she doesn't) :/ I don't think his heart was broken into too many pieces.. don't worry agustin, we'll find ya a señora... we're golden still so far though. He is still 30 min early for every lesson and he listens to all the Book of Mormon cd's that we give him, he comes to church (even without us) and he even brought a friend to one of our lessons at the vc so that he could hear too. He came to our FHE last night at our ward mission leaders house which was really good too. He's awesome.

At our district mtg we gave a lesson on patience and we showed a mormonmessage "continue in patience" - look it up and see it :) We got a super awesome referral this week.. he already has a baptismal date! Perfect. AND he is one of 7 kids... we'll take it. Also we had another really cool miracle this week. There is a lady named Judy and her kids that I taught when I first got here as a greenie. We had set a baptismal date with her but she moved and she didn't go to church :/ BUT I saw her outside again! 8 months later. We set up another appointment and picked her back up. We tried and tried to get a member to come with us to the lesson but no one was available so we were walking to the apt and a member pulls up and said he would go with us! Perfect. Miracle. So we go and one of the first things she says is that she's been scared to be baptized.. but now is her time! AND she has a 9 yr old that she wants to baptize too. So maybe that's why I got sent back here... who knows. It was a really good day yesterday because we had been having a really hard couple days. One day we had like 7 appointments set up and every single one of them fell through. After the trial of your faith :)

For our FHE we made rice crispies! YUM. We made them in the microwave.. who knew? it actually worked. Those rice crispies turned out to save my life actually. Let me explain. We had a dinner with the most recent convert in the ward, Dulce. It was her first time ever feeding the missionaries. I can't even type this without wanting to cry... I. ATE. COW. STOMACH. Hardest thing I've ever had to do. It looked like cut up octopus in red juice but with big goosbumps or something. Hna Holladay is leaving soon so I was like shoot if I offend her, she'll go inactive when Holladay leaves. I was taking huge bites and swallowing it whole so I didn't have to chew on it forever. I was trying to pep talk myself the whole time in my mind. So I took a huge bite with like 3 pieces and I swalloed once and then the next one and all the sudden the both came back up. I thought I was going to puke all over my plate for sure but I said a prayer and it went back down. Heavenly Father saved me because he wants dulce to stay active i think. I can still feel it sitting in my stomach... I have parts of a stomach... in my stomach. Okay i'm done. Anyway... the reason why the rice crispies saved me too was because I hurried and ate one after so I could get the taste out of my mouth and have the food stay down. Goooood times.

Anyway thats pretty much it. Oh yeah, I called someone that I was teaching over the phone and she got baptized! :) Missionary work is the bomb. Keep reading your scriptures and saying your prayers and going to the church. Something I read this morning that I have been thinking about is, "what part of the doctrine are you not living" also I listened to a talk by elder bednar (maybe I already said this) but he said that "a testimony is knowing that the gospel is true.. but being true to the gospel is conversion" I love that. 

Write me please!! Love you all

SFTE

Hermana Cottrell

How we taught Augustin to Pray and me!

Jan 7, 2013

Okay, not much time today!

It's been a good week. Did I tell you about Agustin? okay so last saturday we were on our bikes and we inviting this random guy to church and he came. Not only did he come again yesterday but he is like 30 min early to all of our lessons and church. He's... awesome. But... he might be a little bit in love with Hermana Holladay. We are trying sooo hard to get Marta (my recent convert from last time i was here) and him together. They would be perfect, they are both old and looking for love. Gross.  We set up an FHE for them to go to and we just 'happen' to have to work at the vc at that time so we wont be able to go... they don't know that though. He is getting baptized the end of this month though and we are super excited. When we told him about it we acted it out because he doesn't understand anything :( (hna holladay was the priesthood holder and i almost broke my back) it was funny. But then he said, "ok just tell me the day and the time and i'll be there" cool! He can't read so we got him the CD's of el libro de mormon. He listened to it all last night and then found a phone to call us on (because he doesn't have one) and he just kept saying that it's "Muy muy bonito" we're excited for agustin :)

It's been fun teaching some people that i started out teaching. like Osvaldo. he is nadia and claudia's dad. He has changed sooooo much. he's so much happier, he cut his hair and there is just a different glow about him. The gospel changes lives. He's reading praying and going to church (most weeks) he is praying about feb 3 for his baptism! Right before sister holladay goes home.

We're also teaching a 10 year old named karim.. okay think of like The Outsiders or Newsies and that's how it is. There is like a whole neighborhood of kids in like this super rough area that run up to us and say "las hermanas, las hermanas!!!" they love us and love to read outside on the cirb. It's so fun. They all want to get baptized.  Karim is the leader and he's always lookin out for his 9 year old friends and he dances really good... he's like a little Justin Beber or something.

The Visitor center has been good. I have just been on the computers for most of it. I'm just trying to organize my cards and trying to figure everything out. Hopefully they can distribute some of my referrals this week so it's not so overwhelming.

My ankle is doing a lot better now. I'm just wearing my brace everyday which is super attractive with my skirt. And my cold went away in like 3 days which was a miracle because the average on my mission has been like 7 or 8 days when i get a cold.

There's not much to say this week, but I love you all and hope everyone is doing well!

The chapter this week is Alma 30 and 31

SFTE

Love

Hermana Cottrell

Sister Becktrands Blog pictures

Dec. photos 2012

not in this one?

Happy New Year 2013

Hey fam!

Happy New year! Hopefully everyone was safe. I thought I would be at least a little bummed out to not celebrate it but I was actually grateful that I was safe and sound. We went home around 7 and deep cleaned our apartment which felt super nice! 2013 :) yay! It was tempting not staying out all night in our area so that we could get like 20 new investigators that were drunk so our numbers would be super high... but we decided on quality/safety instead. We just got back from a tri-zone activity where we played soccer and ate lunch... I sprained my ankle... again. so. dumb. It should heal quick being on a BIKE!...not. Plus I have ANOTHER cold. The year is off to a good start. Christmas was so fun to see everyone!! It was my favorite Christmas for sure. I saw lots of miracles. In october there was a 9 year old that came in with his friend and said that he "wanted to learn about Jesus" He didn't know anything so I started talking to him and he just kept looking up at the Christus like, "wow" he hadn't seen anything like it. He told me that his family was going through a divorce and he was super sad all the time. As I was teaching him it got super busy and everyone started getting mad because i was talking to a kid when there were lots of people that needed help. Whatever. So I got distracted and he ran out! I felt so bad. Well, Christmas night he ran up to me and said, "hey! hey! do you remember me?" I said of course I do! He told me that he came with his parents this time. I asked him what he got for christmas and he just said.. "just a couple things that I needed" So I went in the back and grabbed him and his little sister a christmas candy bar. I asked him to take me to his parents so that I could send the missionaries to his house and he could learn more about Jesus. I talked to his parents and they were super stand-offish. They said they would give me their phone number but "they forgot their address" I was super frustrated. BUT... I invited them to go watch the 5 min movie on Luke 2 and I just happened to get my post changed to that theater that they went into. I was ready to testify and stick up for that little boy. So I said that during the movie they will know that the message that we share as missionaries is true and if you don't want it for yourself, do it for your kids! (and I looked right at them..ha) As they walked out I asked again for their address and guess what?? I got it :) missionaries sent! Miracle. I passed my year mark this week too! Weird. I've learned so much this year and i'm definitely not the same Sara as when I left. There has been so many rumors about missionary work changing... have you heard anything? So one of the sisters in the vc has a boyfriend on a mission in canada speaking chinese and he wrote her and said that his mission president said to be ready because they might get a letter from president monson asking them to extend another year and go into CHINA!!!!!!!!! Also I have heard a couple stories of people receiving blank mission calls and it just says the number to pres monsons office and he is giving people special assignments to be ginipigs in new areas. Its gonna get crazy from what I hear. I was thinking about if they just happened to send me a letter to extend another year... woah... I don't feel so bad when I think of Parley P Pratt thought. Anyway. I still don't know when I will be going home. It might be a week earlier or... i'm not sure. We don't need to worry about it though. I will let you know when I know. 

I was SUPER blessed with referrals during Christmas lights. As I prayed to know who to talk to Heavenly father blessed me with almost 40 people to commit to have the missionaries in there home and almost 100 members referring their friends and about 10 that wanted me to teach over phone/email. I'm..... a little overwhelmed. But they said that we will try and split my cards up among the other sisters too so it shouldn't be too bad. I got 20 pesos too from a guy from Mexico. It was super cool I told him I would send the missionaries to his house and he was so grateful that he came up to me like 20 min later and gave me 20 pesos!! I told him no but he insisted. 

Anyway.. that's about it I feel like there is so much more but... I can't think. Oh yeah! We had almost all of our investigators at church this week! We even met some random Señor on the street and invited him to come to church and guess what? He walked all across town and came for 3 hours. Miracle! YAY blessings of being on a bike. I actually like it. Lots of exercise.

Okay love you! Have a good week! Write me

The chapter is Alma 26 again.. too bad :)

SFTE

Hermana Cottrell