When one door of happiness closes, another opens;

February 18, 2014

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
-Helen Keller

Love you! Excited to see you tomorrow!
Rinna

Still Going Strong! :)

‎Monday‎, ‎February‎ ‎10‎, ‎2014 ‎6‎:‎22‎ ‎PM

Hey there! Life is so good! We've had so much fun these laser few
weeks going back to my first two areas for baptisms. The First week
was Margarita and Sister Aldridge and I taught her and found her by
miracle. It was so amazing to see her again and see how happy she was.
After the actual baptism she hugged me and shared how happy she now is
for having the knowledge of her purpose in life and a new
understanding who Jesus Christ is. The second week we were with Yeral
who we taught when we taught Edwin there is a fun picture on Facebook
with him and the 6 sisters that taught him in order. Haha he's
hilarious. Then yesterday we went to DC 1st ward for  Blanca's
baptism. I was able to teach her a lot in the Visitor Center and it
was a a very special experience.

This mission experience has been so amazing and at the same time
humbling. I have seen changes in people that I never thought was
possible and I have been a small part in helping others come back to
the fold again. I love this opportunity to serve and even though I had
this really worldly moment today with a member who was quoting Kung
Pow....:) I just want to do the best I can with the time I have. Love
you all and I'll be seeing you!

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Ps. Elder Mann voy a escribirte un correo mejor la próxima semana!! Te amo!
 

Miracle in our Ward!

January 13, 2014 at 12:48:42 PM MST

Hello!!

Well we had transfers and I am staying here in Olney II for the rest of my mission!! I love Olney II! I have 2 new companions....Hermana Tuft and my companion once again, Hermana Shaw (we've been together 2x before).

So we have already had a good start together. The cool thing is that Hermana Tuft and I came out together and we go home together!!! So we are both in that last stretch run and Sister Shaw is already getting worn-out she tells us. haha. But she loves it! :) 

So our Spanish ward here has really struggled with having active members, especially men that have the Priesthood and live worthy lives of it. So in many of our councils Bishop Costa has expressed his concerns time and time again, and the Elders and us have been visiting these families and bringing other members to support the effort. Well for what seemed like a long time of nothing....this Sunday 6 of those men came to church that we have worked with and the Bishop called them into his office. All six of them accepted the invitation to prepare to receive the Priesthood!!! That is so huge in this ward! Just for Shoemaker's & Word's sake (Roman Salvador, Manuel and Angel Gomez, Nelson Miranda, Nelson Medina and Luis Vasquez) They all were full of joy and excitement as they participated in classes and talked to us after church. :) I cannot tell you how feliz I am right now. I'm not going to lie, my heart has always been more toward those who are struggling in the Gospel (members that are less active) and to see this happen while I am here just testifies to me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance (change), Baptism (Sacrament), Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End) which is our purpose as missionaries, applies to  everyone no matter if we are non-members, active members or less-active members. We are all always in need of the healing that it brings. We just have to choose to live it, and keep living it. 

I am really grateful for my companions right now. It could not have been more inspired, this companionship. I see the end, yet I see how much there is still yet to do here and I pray with all of my heart that we have the strength to finish it strong. We have been doing a lot to establish the Ward's mission plan...not as easy as we thought. But, we down-sized it from a long multiple-page document, to a one page picture of the Temple and boxes with goals of each individual organization. We also decorated the falling apart missionary work bulletin board all cute in the church building. :) Good things are happening here! We have new awesome member referrals that we are teaching and we are walking in the cold! I have learned so much about working with people, and wards. I love this mission! and I love being able to follow promptings that lead us to talk to people that the Lord knows need the Gospel. 

I truly have grown in my understanding of why this is the only true church of Christ. It has taken time, but I can see a lot more clearly now than I once did. 

I love you all! And I'll be seeing you soon!!...but not too soon! :) 

Love,

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Hey There!

January 8, 2014

So I have tried to send pictures a couple of times but these computers have many problems and it just gets sad staring at the screen waiting 20 min for one picture to load....I'm pretty patient, but that's pushing it. haha.

But I love you all!! :) This week was the last week of the Big Festival of Lights!! And we had our first night back in our area teaching again! :) It's a bitter-sweet transition but we have been readjusting to the normal missionary schedule and getting back into setting up nightly appointments. It feels so good! We have had a lot of neat experiences with finding new people and this week is full of really awesome people to teach. This Saturday, also was the baptism of Katie Li...not Spanish. she is an Investigator that I along with many other Sisters at the Visitor Center have had the privilege to teach. She is so awesome!! And I have this picture of her with a bunch of Sisters that were at her baptism. It was a neat day.

So we found out that Hermana Graff is leaving Olney II and we find out tomorrow night where she will be going. She has been pretty sick and Sunday morning she was coughing and congested really bad, but she fought through it and went to church to share her testimony for the last time. She loves these members so much and it's going to be hard for her to leave. :( I'm going to miss her too. We have gone through a lot of stuff together and we have learned a lot about failure and bouncing back. 

One kinda funny experience we had was when we went to contact a referral named Fernin that the Elders had had no luck with. Well, we get there not expecting too much and this man opens the door and is on the phone but looks excited and lets us in. We walk in and see his wife who is just beaming at us and after he ended the phone call they just start chatting it up with us like we were best friends. It was awesome!! haha. So after we taught a short message and got a return appoint. Ana, the wife, prayed and I don't know what happened but I got a bad itch in my throat and started coughing during her prayer...at the end she looked up at me and asked, very seriously, what happened? I just said it was an itch in my throat but she got all nervous and asked if her prayer had caused it. I assured her no. The whole mood changed and as we left she just starred at me and didn't say much. SO.....I hope that she will not take that as a bad sign or something. But we will find put this Sat.

This is going to be a good transfer, I can feel it! And I just need your prayers to help me finish strong and give everyday my all. I love you and  thank you for the Christmas you all gave me! You rock!

Hasta ver!

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Really Fast!

December 30, 2013

Hey all of you!

It was so good talking to most all of you!!! Missed you Kris, Cara,Cam, Camylle, and Claire. BUT I love you all so much! Christmas was great! the program turned out to be very sweet and the spirit was strong. Can't ask for anything more than that! :) And to make it all better the Sisters felt excited and felt happy to be a part of it...even if it was their only time they've performed in their life! It was all worth it!

So for Christmas we had a half day conference as a mission and watched Monsters University and had a talent show!! No way Gyver, I played the uke with our zone and we did Rudolf as well.. :) Good stuff. We put together a crazy jamboree of dancing, duck call whistling, and glitter! It was intense and funny. ha.

Christmas eve was so fun with all of the Senior missionaries that read us stories and sang us songs till about 11:30 at night. It was exactly what the sisters needed that night. Then Santa came!! (thanks family) super spoiled this year...probably not a good thing. ha. But we did get to teach a lot both nights as so many people from around the world filled up the Visitor Center that did not have Christian backgrounds. We saw their faces light up as they felt the love and peace of the season. And then I got to skype the Mann's the next day and Elder Mann was on the other Ipad. :) That was a special moment. And I just want to Thank you you all for making it all possible. I love you all! I'm praying for you all! And I hope you have a fun time this week for new year's and that you make a goal to center your life this year on the things that matter most. :) :) Love you!!!

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Heyo!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Hey Family! 

So Festival of Lights is still going strong. We are all still alive and feeling the Christmas Spirit. It is like living in a Christmas fantasy land everynight...but it is even better because we get to share the Gospel and testify of Jesus Christ. :) I love you all so much and guess what....(Gyver included) our mission is allowed to skype this Christmas!!!! And it gets even better: We get 1 hour! :) So much better than a 40 min phone call!! So we need to figure that out! Hermana Graff and I will be with Missy Bethke (a member from the English ward in our stake) so she will probably call you mom and dad to make any specific coordination. But email me when and how we can do it....I think some of you are going to Mexico? Haha. Anyway, I'll get Missy to call you.

I don't have much time because the Library was closed yesterday and our P-day was half of the normal time BUT we had miracles!!! Gaby (from Glenmont ward) went on her mission! And I wrote a cool christmas song from a poem that an Elder wrote. I'm going to play/sing it Christmas morning for the mission. Should be fun! Carla, this awesome woman from El Salvador that we are teaching is in the Hospital from an ulcer and she just got fired....I pray that miracles come for her. She is so good and has a strong desire to learn the Gospel. I hope all is well and I will write more later!!

Take care and as for the kiddos....there is a special something coming your way. :) 

LOVE

Hermana Corrinne Clement

p.s.  Elder Mann...it's more getting pulled into music things than game things. they say, "oh you do music!" haha. I feel ya though.

It's Starting!!!!

December 2, 2013 at 12:27:03 PM MST

Festival of Lights starts tonight!!! :)

Man, this has been a fun past weeks of rushing to get everything ready for the month of December. Tonight is the lighting ceremony and it is closed to the public and only Ambassadors and their families are invited to come. Then this Thursday is for the Diplomats and their families. I remember myself here at this time last year thinking to myself..."what in the world is going on?" Now I get it. :) Took a little bit. The most confusing thing was that last year all that I remember from my training for these nights was to smile and look pretty (because we aren't allowed to invite ambassadors to learn more) so I just smiled really big last year.. this year I see much more of the big picture! It is really such a special night that involves bringing these highly influential people into the visitor center to feel the Spirit and meet members. By doing so, hopefully creating a good experience to look back on as they look at missionaries waiting for visas...or if their country is debating about having missionaries allowed there. It is a much bigger deal than I thought last year. Don't worry I'm still gonna smile big. haha

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun! We ate with two families and they both sent us home with way more than we can eat..which is normal. ;) Also, we were able to teach their families about God and why we would give thanks to him. Not all of their families are members and so we shared a broader message. The first dinner with Hermana Ranjabar we had the English Sisters there as well and they all speak other languages so we had fun with that. (German, Portuguese, Japanese, and us with Spanish) We sang I am a child of God with my uke and in all of the languages. Hermana Ranjabar's niece and nephew wanted to learn more and accepted a Book of Mormon. Super awesome!!

Hermana Graff and I are doing great! She loves singing jazz so we do that a lot and we are planning out songs to go caroling this month on a street corner somewhere so if you are out here in DC look for us!!! I love you all so much! Hope your Thanksgiving was magical and I look forward to talking to you in 23 days!! :)

Love,

Hermana Corrinne Clement 

2 min email

November‎ ‎25‎, ‎2013

 

Sorry I didn't email because Elder Mann was on at the same time! For the first time our whole mission.. hahah. I love you all! a lot of amazing things have happened! Festival of lights starts this week! I love you all so much!!!!

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Alo!

November 18, 2013

Mom Happy Birthday on the 22nd!! :) I love you so much and hope you eat chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream...and save me some. I hope you get to rest a bit and that it is not too crazy with the Theatre.

Also, thank you for the letters! I am still trying to write ya'll back but I hope you will be patient. And if the Primary class that wrote me asks, yes I got their letters and I am almost done writing them all back.

So this week we had Elder Zwick from the Quorum of the Seventy come and give our mission a conference, as well as all of the local leaders. It was very impactful and we learned principle that Sister Graff and I are using to teach: Simplify and Intensify. Okay so when you hear that you may think whoa! Extreme, but the whole idea is to use less words to tell the same thing. Sister Graff and I both like to talk a lot and so sometimes we get on a roll and we will teach, testify, then re-teach, re-testify the same thing....haha. It's not a bad problem because the people really understand the message BUT sometimes we have both agreed we could use less words to get the same message across more powerfully. It's good to keep growing and improving. :) 

We had some awesome miracles this week and some other random fun stuff. Miguel and Guierrmo, 2 of our investigators that are in part member families, came to church and are progressing! Please pray for them. Our cute little family that we were teaching now don't answer calls or the door...so we don't know what happened there, but we have been blessed with some great people. 2 fun things happened yesterday: I backed the car into Sister Graff...she has no injury, and we locked the keys in the house...the first time in my mission. So we talked to the maintenance man and invited him to the Temple as he unlocked our door. :) Good times. Things are going good. I can't believe how fast time is flying. February is near and then you'll all have to put up with me again. muahaha. I hope you are excited about it. Love you all!! And you are all in my prayers!

Mucho amor,

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Heyo!

November 13, 2013

Christmas is coming faster than I can keep up with...I'm so excited!! November just started but already we have Christmas trees, we're practicing the music for the program and we are working out of all the logistics of scheduling. It feels kinda like the last few rehearsals before tech week, if this was a play. BUT everyone is calm and although there is a lot to do, we still have so many opportunities to teach and visit families. There are a lot of good changes happening and a lot of miracles in our ward. Our ward is little but the members are so good and we are working on a ward mission plan that is only ONE page. The one from this last year was good and well thought out but the majority of the members didn't even know it existed and had never read it. It is amazing how the Spirit works, and how fast it can change someone's heart. Many of our members are struggling with inactivity but we all felt that putting our sights to the Temple as a vision for the ward will help strengthen their desire to come back.

Like MacGyver talked about in his email, the majority of converts in our ward (which are few) have gone inactive and sadly we've lost contact with some...but if anything it has made me reflect on how the Lord feels about us and mankind as a whole. If we truly believe that God's purpose and Glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, can you imagine how much work that is? How much heartache that is when they don't accept it? I feel like we experience a portion of the sadness He feels but not all. But on the other hand we also know that if this is His work, He will do everything possible to save each and every one of His children. I guess to sum this up, I have felt a lot of pain from what I have seen on the mission, but I have also felt so much hope for what the Lord has in store for each of us. No matter where we are or how far we are off, there is always a road back. I love you all! I know that when things get tough, He is always there. We just have to Hold On.

Life is truly an adventure!

Hermana Corrinne Clement

November 4, 2013

All of the Sisters at Arlington!!! So fun! 

French artists for the Primary Halloween Party!

Happy Halloween!

November 4, 2013

How was Halloween in AZ?? I would love to see pics of your costumes!! :) We had to stay in on Halloween here because they said it is too dangerous to go out that night. SO we planned for 3 hours, ate candy and dressed up for fun!....I'll show you those pics one day. :) It was good!

Also, happy birthday Morgan! And I'm so excited about your wedding!!!! I wish I could be there...you picked a good guy. :) 

So we have been doing a lot of things this week. I was put in charge of making a movie for the visitor center and we shot it and everything but one sister was offended...so we are re-writing it. ha. Also this week we had only 3 nights out teaching people because of the visitor center shifts and also Halloween so we were struggling to meet our goals that we had set to accomplish this week of many of our people we wanted to teach. So yesterday we fasted as a district, because the elders have a hard area and they were struggling too.. Well yesterday at Stake Conference we were sitting in the Spanish translation room when the English elders drop off the mom of Michael (their investigator) so we talk with her and sit with her and at the end we find out that she lives in our area and she wants to learn more so we set up and apt with her this week!!! :) I love miracles! Then we checked on some referrals that we had received and they from the English missionaries so the addresses were wrong BUT the guy that lived in one house turned out to be super interested. And then we knocked another door by inspiration and the people there knew Monica!! Monica= the woman I taught in the vc and she was baptized about 2 weeks ago. So we are sending the elders over to them! So cool!

Christmas is already on the way and I am 1 of 6 sisters that were here last year for festival so all of the Senior couples are tracking us down any free time they get...festival can get a little crazy and they want to know EVERYTHING... but I am so excited! We went to Arlington Cemetery today with all of the missionaries that go home soon. It was amazing and even more amazing because it is Fall. :) Love you all! I hope you all are going out of your way to share the Gospel....a ward that relies solely on the missionaries to do it, perishes. Harsh but true in so many ways. Congrats on being Bishop dad! I love you and know it will be an amazing experience for our family and the ward! Keep that fire burning!

Love

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Hello all!!

October 28, 2013

Grandkids!!! I heard you all got your presents!! I hope you like them :) And Emma I heard your baptism was awesome! I love you all so much!

I don't have much time because we had a zone activity and we played sports in a field...it lasted longer than I thought. But it was a lot of fun!

So with the little time I have I want to update you on a miracle that happened yesterday! So we have been working with this awesome man from Guatemala named Muhammad Ali (yes he was named after the boxer) he became a member when he was about 12 here in DC but after time he got into the Marines and kinda fell away. We found him sitting outside one-day and stared to talk and he let us in. He said that many missionaries had passed by from lots of religions (including ours) but he never let anyone in. Well he said he felt the Spirit tell him to hear what we had to say. Well after the first 5 min we were pretty much best friends and we have been visiting him every week...but he still didn't have the "prompting/feeling" to read the book of mormon again of come to church but he is now actively involved in another ministry and he is the Pastor for the youth. Well yesterday he called us and said that he had a feeling to watch the movie we left him (the restoration-movie about how the church was restored) and he felt the spirit so strong and he said that he got the answer that he was looking for. Now he has a desire to read the book of mormon again and he said eventually he will be coming back to church. It was the most amazing phone call to her a man who had lost his testimony suddenly remember and understand again the truth. We shed tears of joy that day! and then yesterday....are you ready for this Hermana Schoemaker??? He came to the Temple for a concert! It was so perfect and he felt the spirit at the Temple too. Such amazing miracles happen. It has been so much time and work with him but I know that each soul is important and that God has something amazing prepared for the Mormon Muhammad Ali! Pray for him!

Love you all and I hope you all have fun in Halloween!!!! We are still trying to figure out what we can dress up as and still wear the missionary attire...

Hermana Corrinne Clement!

I love you ALL!

October 24, 2013

Hey there! First off congrats Emma on your baptism!! I'm so happy and proud of you for taking this step. :) You are so loved!! Thanks for the invitation! It is on my desk. And I also heard your birthday party was so fun!! Happy Birthday!!

 

So I meant to write on Monday but the library we went to had horrible internet connection and so I just sat at the screen for 30 min and then gave up. BUT we had a miracle from that! So for some reason the computer that I had was double-booked but I got there first so the kid left to find another computer, but because of that I started talking to the man next to me with an Italia sweater...but he was actually from Chile. So I started trying to talk Italian with him...fail. haha. He was very open and we talked about life and about missionaries and about his family then as we were about to leave I find out that he is actually a member that is very less active in the church. He smiled really big and and felt like he had fooled me. So we kept talking and I found out that he had been baptized in Utah a long time ago because he said he felt that the Lord guided him to do so. Then he was active in Hawaii but when he moved to DC he just stopped. He didn't really have a reason why though. So he talked about how he hasn't read the Book of Mormon in a long time and I handed him one, then he said he didn't know where the church was and I gave him the mormon.org card  with info how to find his church. I couldn't help but smile and he told me that he knew that it wasn't a coincidence that we had met that day...His name is Luis. Keep him in your prayers that he gets back on track.

 

Also another really cool miracle that happened from the visitor center. So we give "tours" or lessons to missionaries and their investigators (those wanting to learn more about the Church) and not to long ago I had the opportunity to teach Monica (an awesome Spanish lady) about Eternal Families. I taught her that day and that was it. Then about 2 weeks ago I ran into her at the baptism of Edwin (from Glenmont) and she hugged me and told me that she was getting baptized with her husband and that they were so excited! Then this last Sunday we were able to go to her baptism and she had me sing. At the end of the service she pulled me aside and started to tear-up. She thanked me for that tour and for changing her heart. I did nothing, I know it was the spirit, but it is amazing to see how one lesson, or even one moment can influence a person so much. :) She said I have to come back in a year when they get sealed. :) I'm so excited for them and so humbled to see how much the gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives.. I love you!! I hope that you are excited for Halloween! We are carving pumpkins with the young women. Good times! Take care!

 

Sister Corrinne Clement

Muchos cambios!!!

October 16, 2013

Wow, a lot has changed her! 3 Spanish Hermanas (including my Hermana Schoemaker) are going home today and we didn't receive any new Spanish sisters...but we got 7 new English. This is going to be a little crazy because we only have 10 of us. 10 is not a lot, BUT 10 means we are also really close so it's fun. I don't want to lose Schoemaker because she was the most amazing comp and I have never had so much unity, hard work/fun before. Luckily her parents came today and she's going to tag along to our appointments this week with them. :) So that makes the goodbyes less hard because she's pretty much going to be with us the whole time. haha. I am now with Hermana Graff, she is awesome! From Cali and was switched from English to Spanish about 2 transfers ago and She's picked it up crazy fast. We have so many people that we are teaching right now and a lot of them are amazing part-member families. They too are sad to see Hna Schoemaker leave so they threw a Family Home Evening to have a "party" to thank her for all she had done. it meant a lot to her.

Other change (as MacGyver mentioned in his email)...I am now a trainer at the Visitor Center....no that that means much to anyone that doesn't serve here. :) But I am one of the 3 leaders in charge and it is going to be an adventure that's for sure! It seems like just when we start getting a little comfortable, the Lord gives us another opportunity to grow. Yay growing!! It will be a great experience because my focus is the new sisters coming in and preparing them for the big festival of lights and helping them not run away from people when they come in. haha. Funny but true. I love this mission it has made an impact so deep on me. I can't even begin to say how much I have learned from the Latino people here. They are such hard workers and they have so much love! I love them. I love you all! I hope that as things change in life you are able to withstand the blows and just know that I'm doing my best everyday.

Love Hermana Clement

p.s. P-days are now switching to Mondays so I will be writing now every Monday! Love you!

October 9, 2013 Pics

Epic Jump 2 (Francis and I)

Epic Jump 1 (Engman and I)

 

The Butterfly Gardens!!!

 

Hello Hello!

October 9, 2013

So today is going to be short because it is my companion's last week on the mission and she wants to do as much as possible and see everyone we can. But it was a really great week! It was sad because Paula, our investigator from Columbia hasn't been answering us and said she's not ready to get baptized this Sunday. Same with Oscar in my old area (Glenmont) I've seen him quite a bit at the visitor center but during his interview he got offended and left. The sisters ran after him and talked to him and he said he needs more time. So a few sad things but I feel at peace because I love them both so much and I know that it will all work out when they are ready. But on a high we had a lot of fun watching conference with families. haha. I made bingo charts and we brought snacks and it got a little intense in the Morales home because the boys are competitive but it was still good and they watched conference for the first time ever! Then for one session we went to the Glenmont chapel and I saw all of the members there! It was so much fun and a few of my close friends there were screaming and running up to say hi! One, Cynthia is putting her mission papers in soon. So good!

Conference was really inspiring. I loved Holland's talk about depression and also Christofferson's on the equality and complements of men and women. It reminded me of all of those blogs on women and the priesthood I read before the mission and I just loved the message that he shared. I stand by it. So cool news. We now get to got to the Temple whenever we want!! You would think we would be able to go more than once a transfer because we work at the vc but until no...

Life is really amazing!! I feel blessed and watched over everyday. And everyday that I'm here my testimony grows about the Gospel. I know that the truth is here, in this church and not just parts of truth but the fulness. I am grateful for you all and to all of my nieces and nephews your surprise is going in the mail this week!!! Love you!!

Love

Hermana Corrinne Clement

Miracles part 2

October 2, 2013

We want to change from doing the usual pageant feel to be more centered on the international cultures that we have here and how the Savior is the Savior to ALL nations so we are looking for cool music that can be performed in different languages (Italian, Japanese, Russian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Estonian, French, and English) so if you happen to come across Christmas music that is of these languages I hope that you could send a copy, or a link to it...sisters and mom that is directed to you... :) This is such an amazing opportunity and I just hope it is what it needs to be...if you know what I'[m saying.

Sooooo... When it comes to our fasting miracles, we fasted on Sunday to find people who are prepared and yesterday we decided to fast from our car and walk the streets instead of driving from apt to apt. We taught this cool guy named Melvin from Honduras in a park, and then we found lots of knew people that we genuinely interested and we have apts with them this week. Then we stopped by this apt and taught an amazing family and the mom said that she wants all of them to come to church with us. he best thing is that they are our neighbors and we are going over for a birthday party there for the little boy and the little kids are pretty much our best friends. :) It's the best! We have been so blessed. And even though I've been asked to do lots of different projects in the ward and the VC and on top of that we are teaching, I know that the Lord will provide a way, and the best thing is that I just have to do my best. Super good bargain. ha. I love you all soooo much and I thank you for your love! Remember who your are- "He lives in you"-Lion King

Love

Hermana Corrinne Clement

mom-thank you for the boots and clothes :) they are perfect!!

Fasting always brings miralces!

October 2, 2013

Hey!

So the government is closed today, that's pretty crazy. I don't know all of the details but I hear some things about obamacare and such....lots of pros and cons. BUT luckily we aren't supposed to get involved in all of that stuff. But the Temple is still open!! haha. Maybe they'll take there break here and come feel more peace. Also, more people will be home and probably a little humbler. There are definitely positives to all of this. 

We had really good highs and lows this week. Sister Schoemaker and I did some good manual labor (ripping up tiles super glued to wood...ouch) I only hit my hand with the hammer 3 times, the elders hit their hands more so I felt pretty good about my construction skills. :) Also I'm getting assigned to be the primary pianist in this ward because literally NO ONE plays. So I hope all of the help I got from you guys pays off and by some miracle I can play these songs with the little practice we get. I'm actually pretty excited because I love the primary, it just came as a shock because she needs me to help with the music for the Primary program. ALSO, so every Christmas Eve during festival of lights (christmas lights at the Temple and concerts at the VC) there is a night of music that the Sister missionaries do and usually an elderly missionary couple puts it together and directs it. Well...I volunteered to help and in turn they asked me to do the whole thing! So I'm really excited and I'm co-planning it with Sister Lavrentyva from Russia. W

Sick in the VC

 September 25, 2013

First of all, JACOB,EMMA, CAMYLLE, CLAIRE, and GREYSON!!! I LOVE YOU
ALL SO MUCH!! I'm getting something special ready for you so I hope
you can be patient and I hope you'll like it. :)

Secondly, WELCOME TO DANA RANCH MANN FAMILY!!! :) haha. I knew that
you were moving close, I didn't realize it was the same ward! ha. I'm
so excited about that!!

So I have been sick the past couple of days and so while at the
visitor center I would be sitting there on the bench and literally
fall asleep...so they put me in the "sick room" (which is like Harry
Potter's cupboard under the stairs). I was there 2 days..FREEDOM at
last!!! But this transfer has been so good. Since this is Sister
Schoemaker's last transfer she doesn't care what she looks like AND SO
she liked my idea of matching everyday/ :) :) A lot like high school
again with Taylor Aiono, we literally look like twins everyday. It
makes getting ready in the morning a lot more fun and challenging.

So right now we are teaching an amazing man named Miguel, his whole
family are members and now after like 13 years he has a desire to
learn more. It is really neat because we are the first missionaries to
ever teach him and because of that he has a lot of trust and is very
honest. We are also trying to get permission to baptize Paula
(Aswald's girlfriend) in our ward because she lives in a different
ward but comes to our ward every week. She is awesome and it is a lot
like teaching a best friend when we are with her because she is so
crazy and random. But everything has been really great and everyday we
have been seeing miracles.

We had a funny family home evening the other day where we invited a
member named Jovino and he came late. So the teen daughter answered
the door when he came and looked at him and then shut the door. As she
sat down we asked her who was it? She said, "je...je....Jehovah".
(Jesus in the Old Testament)  We all looked her and said, Jovino? And
she nodded. We asked why she shut the dorr on him and she schrugged
and opened it up again. It was so funny and awkward and Jovino came in
and one of the people said, " you shut the door on Jehovah"....funny..

Well love you all!!
Hermana Corrinne Clement