"A Day in the Life of a Missionary"

On Friday, January 4th was the 1st time I went out with the missionaries. I woke up at around 10:30 am to my dad telling me that I was wanted on the phone. Rachel was talking on the phone and then handed it over to me and told me that it was the Sister missionaries. They wanted me to accompany them for a few appointments and would be there at around 11 am. Sister Nicholls and Sister Bowles arrived and then we left. First, we went to the home of someone they had been teaching, Mike, who I work with at Arby's. It was a very interesting experience. We talked for a while, then we watched a DVD called The Restoration with him and then they set up another appointment with him for Sunday evening. Then, they asked him which member that had accompanied them before that he'd like to have accompany them the next time. At first, he said that he didn't really care who came, but then, a few seconds later he whispered "Elizabeth" and motioned with his hand a come motion, which Sister Nicholls saw and asked, "You want Elizabeth to come?" and he responded by saying, "Yeah, she's cool." It was very interesting.

Then, the following Sunday, January 6th, they came to get me at around 6:30 pm. After I got in their car, they joked that I was out with the missionaries twice in one week, might as well give me a name tag right now. We first went to see the Stetsons (Sister Stetson has recently been baptized) we watched the Living Scriptures animated movie "Samuel the Lamanite". After that, we went to another house where they gave a Bible to a Hispanic lady. Then we went to Mike's home and talked to him for a while. After that they took me home.

This last Sunday, January 13th, Sister Nicholls invited me to sit next to her in Relief Society. She introduced me to her new companion, Sister Mustoe (actually she's her New OLD companion, they had already been companions before). Then, we talked and I told them my schedule for this week and the pitiful number of days I was scheduled to work (only Tuesday and Wednesday) and then I told them that I didn't have class on Fridays. Hearing that, Sister Nicholls suggested "a day in the life of a missionary" and I agreed that that would be a good idea.

So, that's what I did today. They picked me up at 10:30 am and first, they had to stop off at their apartment for some reason, then we went to see about visiting some people. Then, we stopped at a less active member's home, Sadie Kraft, and talked to her for a while. After that, they took me tracting with them. The first apartment in this one building that we went to, a woman answered and let us in to talk with them. There were two girls that live in this apartment. Their names are Tia and Brandy. We talked to them for a while, gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon and left after a bit. A couple doors down, we got invited in by another woman named Brandy. We talked to her for a while and they gave her a pamphlet with their names and phone number on the back. After a bit more tracting, we left for lunch. All the missionaries were invited to the North American Steak Buffet by Brother and Sister Riskedahl, including the CES missionaries, Elder and Sister Johnson. After that we stopped off back at their apartment so they could get more Books of Mormon. After that, we went to see more people and they ended giving 2 more Books of Mormon away. Then, we went back to their apartment for dinner. We had spaghetti with pasta sauce. I also had a hot chocolate. While there we took this picture. This is a picture of (from left to right) Sister Nicholls, me, and Sister Mustoe at their apartment before we ate dinner.

After dinner, we went out to visit more people, though a lot of people weren't home and then they brought me home. Overall, it was a very interesting and exciting day.

Christmas & Another Poem

My sister, Rachel came home for Christmas, this year. My dad, Becky, and Rachel arrived on the Saturday before Christmas and Becky and Dad left in the early afternoon of the next day. My dad preferred to spend Christmas down there with his new wife than with us. So, it was just Rachel, Sara, and me for Christmas. Someone in our ward wanted to make sure we had a good Christmas, so, they gave us $500 to use. We used most of it to go to the movies that we're in the theater that we wanted to see. We discovered about a dozen movies in all. Plus, the one who gave us the money brought a gift over of 6 free movie tickets to the Grand theater. We decided to save what money was left for any movies we wanted to see in the future.

We had also gotten some snacks and drinks for New Years Eve. We wanted to spend it with just the three of us. Especially because, New Years had always been a Mom thing. Every year we'd play games and eat snacks and drink pop with Mom. We also rented 4 movies and watched 2 of them on New Years Eve. The movies we watched were Stardust and Firehouse Dog both of these movies were really good. We also rented Hairspray, which is just plain weird, and Snow White: The Fairest of Them All, which was pretty strange but interesting.

Rachel left a week ago yesterday to go back to Utah since she had to be in Provo for a meeting on the next Monday and would be leaving for Jerusalem the next day.

Before Rachel left, we edited this poem I wrote weeks ago together. We plan on putting this one in the front of our mom's life history book. This is the poem I wrote:

My Mother Was My Hero

She wasn't very special
In the eyes of the rest of the world
But she was my hero
The one I always trusted.

I'd wake up each day
To the sound of her voice
Telling me to get up
And ready to go.
I wake up each day now
To the sound of her alarm;
The beeping is all I hear.
My mother was my hero
But now her voice is gone.

I'd walk in the door
And see her on the couch
She'd be sitting or lying,
Resting in her special spot.
Now, the house is empty
Her space on the couch is clear
She's nowhere in sight.
Her presence is no longer there.
My mother was my hero
But now she is gone.

Calling the house
Nearly every time
She'd answer right away
She was always there.
Calling the house now,
Her answer never comes
She is no longer there.
Another answers every time.
My mother was my hero
But now she can't be heard.

When a ride was needed
She'd be on her way
She would always make it
No matter what was going on.
Now, when I need a ride
She's not going to come
Someone else must come instead
She will never come again.
My mother was my hero
But now her presence is gone.

She took me to deliver papers
Whenever I requested
She'd take me everywhere
That I needed to go.
She'll never again take me
Wherever I need to go
I have to take the bus
Or get a ride from another.
My mother was my hero
But now she is here no more.

I would talk to her
About every little thing
Every single day
When I had something to say.
No longer can I talk to her
She's nowhere to be found
Now, I talk to Rachel
Since Mom is not around.
My mother was my hero
But now she's far away.

For people who knew her,
She was always there
If ever help was needed
She would immediately come
But now she is not coming
To those who are in need
She cannot come directly
Someone else must come instead
My mother was my hero
But now she is not nearby.

She may have been my hero
But now that she is dead
Her influence on her children
Will always be felt.
My mother is my hero
She will be forevermore.

In the future, when I have children
They will know of her:
Her smiling face
Her caring eyes
Her loving words
My children will know my hero
Her memory will live on.