July 21 - Fruit fruit fruit!

Dear family and friends,

Hi from Vallejo!  This week was awesome.  You know, the usual.

So, some crazy things happened!  I'll tell you a couple, as long as you (especially parents) promise not to freak out.  I am safe and happy! 

So, the first thing I wanted to tell y'all:

Our investigator, RQ, moved his date up for baptism to August 16th!  He is super excited because his birthday is the next day, Sunday, the 17th.  We told him he would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on his birthday, the best gift he could ever receive, and his eyes lit up!  He is doing so well!  He told us about a spiritual experience he had reading the Book of Mormon.  We left him with 2 Nephi 31 to read and the next appointment he told us he felt a warm feeling in his chest - we were able to explain that that feeling is the Holy Ghost telling us what we are reading is true, and he said he wants to feel that all the time.  The promise in Moroni 10:3-5 is so true - if you read the Book of Mormon with real intent and being sincere, having faith in Christ, and ask God if it is true, He will let you know the truth through the power of the Holy Ghost :)

It is so neat to see how far he has come from when we first started teaching him!  His faith in Jesus Christ is really growing, and it is amazing to see.  I sure love RQ - he is a quirky, sincere, humble young man!

And secondly, we had an intense experience that happened when we were running on Thursday morning!  We were told by several people that this park across the street from our apartment complex (Hann's Park) was safe to run in when it was light outside in the mornings, and since it's summer the mornings are always light.  We've made sure the places where we run are sporadic, just to keep us safe and make sure no one notices a pattern.  So a couple times a week we've been running in this park since we first got to Vallejo.

We would always see this sweet little old Filipino man and this other female runner without fail whenever we ran in the park, but Thursday as we were running we realized that we hadn't seen them the last few times we ran there.  Sister Harmer kept saying her legs felt super tired, and I kept getting spooked hearing all the rustles in the trees around us.  All of a sudden before we crossed a bridge, this voice came into my head clear as day: "Turn around."  So I told Sister Harmer and she said she heard the same voice.  Immediately when we turned around, we had a second wind and were able to run back super fast.

We didn't think much of the prompting until Saturday morning when one of the elders, Elder Albertson, told us that there was a killer on the loose called the Zodiac Killer and that all the killings that happened were in that park we ran in a couple days prior!  Whew.  I don't know what would have happened, but I am grateful that Sister Harmer and I have the gift of the Holy Ghost and that we live worthily to hear His promptings.  

But don't worry - we are safe!  We make sure we vary the routes we travel on foot and in the car and are always keeping aware.  That experience just made me so grateful for my Heavenly Father and strengthened my testimony that when we stay close to Him, He will protect us.

The last highlight of the week was when we weeded a less-active member's yard!  Her name is Akesa Nakatouga and she is so amazing :)  The weeds were as tall as me - it was INTENSE.

Scouting joke:

You know what else is intense?  Camping. (Haha get it?  "In tents..." That's definitely a Justin joke)

But anyway, the weeding was so fun.  Afterwards, her sister-in-law made us the best pancakes I have ever eaten in my entire life.  Ah man they were so good.  I need to get the recipe from her.  And, Kesa really opened up and let us know some of her concerns about the Gospel and other areas of her life, so now we know how to help her better.  Service: good for the servee and the servers :)

Weeding was also fun because it reminded me of those good ole' days weeding to earn gas money.  The weeds back home...never ending.  I finish the front and back yard and they're all weedy again.  Amazing how that works.  Oh well, it taught me to work hard and to persevere haha.  Thanks Dad!

There are two hilarious elders in our zone that have this Asian battle going on haha.  One is Elder Lee and he is Korean.  Then there's Elder Or and he's from Hong Kong.  They constantly have battles over who is the more dominant Asian...oh brother.  It's super funny though haha.  Makes for a good time when we are together as a zone.  

Okay, so the reason I titled the e-mail fruit fruit fruit is because on Wednesday of this week I ate more fruit in one day than I think I ever have in a whole week combined!  So.  It started with the strawberries.  We were driving back from St. Helena visiting an investigator when we noticed this little family fruit stand, so we bought some strawberries.  They were SO good!  But they started stinking up our car really bad.  We bought so many though, and we didn't want them to stink up our apartment, so at the end of the night we ate so many strawberries.  They were the tastiest strawberries ever.  To add to the fruit, a member in our ward, Kristen, gave us a box of blueberries (yum!!! I forgot how much I love blueberries), and then still later on this potential elder in our ward, Justin, gave us this gallon bucket of cherry plums!  Then the next day, a recent convert in our ward, Reuben, gave us peaches and apples from his orchards in his backyard! Hence, so much fruit fruit fruit.  It's the best.  I've gone from being a veggie-lover to a fruit-lover out here.  Everyone grows fruit here and it's so much better than in the stores!  I'm so spoiled out here.

Also, since we've deep cleaned our apartment two Mondays ago, the spider population has decreased significantly.  #sistercleaningpower Hopefully I never whitewash into an elders' apartment again.  So many spider bites...and spiders...and roly-polies, weirdly enough.

Anyway, overall, it was a crazy, awesome, fun, miraculous week!  OH!  And we found this less-active member, Wayne, who has been hiding out for a few months - he came to church yesterday and loved it! :) It was definitely a miracle!

I love you all!  Hopefully this e-mail makes sense...I try to organize my thoughts but they usually end up coming out super random haha.  Make good choices this week and remember, "Nothing is impossible.  The word itself says 'I'm Possible'" (Audrey Hepburn).

Much love,

Sister Kolee Decker

P.S. Quote of the week from a mom describing her son:

"He's a ham.  He's better than a turkey, but not quite a beef."  Haha

Picture: Us with Clifford, the African Spur-Thigh Tortoise!  It's our recent convert, Reuben's :)

July 14 - I Love Nachos

Dear family and friends,

Hi from Vallejo!  This week went really well :)  You know, the usual.

So, I decided this week that I really love nachos.  But not the fake-cheese kind of nachos - the nachos where you have fresh chips, with fresh cheese melted on top, and avacado and salsa...oh man, so good.

I realized I have subconsciously become a vegetarian!  Not totally - if people serve me meat, I eat it.  But personally, I don't eat any meat!  I love eating black beans and garbanzo beans in wraps, but I don't even eat lunch meat anymore!  Which is surprising, seeing how before being out on a mission I just loved steak.  

Speaking of steak, our ward mission leader fed us this week and he lives in the BOONIES in the mountains.  He fed us an awesome dinner and for the first time in a while, I ate steak!  And I didn't like it!!  Weird. So yes, I have gone semi-vegetarian.  

Alright!  This week!

First off, our investigator RQ Lin Manzon is doing so well!  We set a new baptismal date for him for August 23rd, since he moves pretty slow.  He is excited for his baptism and came to church yesterday for the second time.  He is also attending FHE tonight!  Man, he is so funny - I'll try to take a picture with him this week so you can see how awesome he is.  He is the cutest, sweetest little Filipino guy - makes me slightly jealous of the missions in the Philippines...but it's alright haha.

As for our investigator Lindsay, she is really struggling with the Book of Mormon.  She comes from a Southern Baptist background where they tell their members that if they are baptized into the Mormon church and/or if they read the Book of Mormon they will burn in Hell.  Sometimes it bothers me that other "Christian" churches condemn us so much.  But I know that all I need to worry about is making sure I keep my covenants I made at baptism and help others to recognize the truthfulness of our message for themselves.  

It's interesting that came up this week with Lindsay and her old church, because in 3 Nephi 27:1-10 it talks about what Christ's church is.  Our church truly does reflect everything Christ commanded His church to be.  It strengthens my testimony and reassures me.  As for her church preaching all of that against us, I'm reminded of a verse in the Book of Mormon (can't remember the exact verse right now): "Fools mock; but they shall mourn."

Anyhow, we are working with Lindsay to recognize the Spirit and help her see the many ways God speaks to her.  Extra prayers are going up for her - she definitely needs them to get over this hump. 

Sister Harmer and I also taught an amazing first lesson to a new investigator, Ryan, this week.  Our Bishop's son, Matthew, is on a mission right now in South Africa and has been e-mailing his best friend Ryan.  Ryan decided he wanted to meet with the missionaries, so we met at our Bishop's home and taught him the first few principles in the Restoration.  He has NO concept or idea of God, so Sister Harmer and I explained about Heavenly Father and His plan for us called the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how this plan blesses families.  It was SO powerful.  I don't think I've ever taught so simply to anyone before, and I don't think I've ever felt the Spirit more in my entire life than I did in that room on Thursday evening.  After we said a prayer at the end, he just sat and soaked the Spirit in.  We sat in silence for about a minute, and he looked up and said, "I feel like Matthew [his missionary friend] is here." :)  I'm sure Matthew is rooting Ryan on, as well.  I am stoked to teach him again this coming Thursday!

Guess what we did this week?!  (With God's help, of course)  We picked up a YSA FAMILY!!  Our investigators Joseph and Tracey invited a family-friend, Alex, to join in the lessons, and Joseph's sister, Divina, is also meeting with us.  They eat everything up every time we go over and are just enthusiastic and wanting to learn.  They always ask such great questions that make me think, too.  

It is such a testimony builder to me from what Elder Falabella told us that we need to teach families.  They have concerns come up, and since they have other people learning as well, their family member(s) can relieve their concerns for them between teaching visits.

It reminds me of something we see in nature all the time.  Just like a lion will attack a zebra that gets separated from the pack, Satan tries to do the same thing.  He tries to make us think we are safe or we can do everything on our own; that we don't need anyone else.  But we are easier targets when we are alone than when we are standing together.  

That's why we have families.  God knew that in families, we would be able to stand together much easier and make it back to Him.  Satan attacks families because if he can get us alone, we are much easier to pick off.

On that same note, I have an inspirational quote I wanted to share from Elder Wright and Elder Carrillo from Numbers Meeting last night.  

Elder Wright was telling us that earlier on Sunday they were contacting and something didn't feel right.  Elder Wright turned to Elder Carrillo and said, "I feel like a truck with an empty tank."

Elder Carrillo replied, "I feel like a truck with no wheels.  Hey, I'll be your tank."

Elder Wright: "I'll be your wheels."

And they continued talking to people.

It was a small story, but it really touched me and renewed my desire to make my relationship with my companion strong.  Because just like I said earlier, Satan can get to us much easier when we are alone.  

Funny moment of the week:

This awesome African-American guy sat and talked with us for a few minutes and at the end of our conversation wanted to say a prayer together, so we said a prayer!  At the end of the prayer, he starts walking way and then turns around and yells out, "Man, y'all are like GASOLINE - you filled up my tank!"

Haha.  It was awesome.  I love cultural diversity - it brings all sorts of diverse conversations and experiences into my life.

Anyway, I hope you all have a good, safe, righteous week!  Thanks family, by the way, for the additional funny scriptures :)

Love you!

Love,

Sister Kolee Decker

July 7 - I am staying!

July 7, 2014

Dear family and friends,

Hi!  We received transfer information on Friday and I learned that I am staying here in the Napa 4th YSA ward for at least another 6 weeks :)  Woot woot!  Okay, I'm calling I'm going to stay here 6 months.  Well, now that I've said it out loud probably not, but that is my hope right now.  I love it here!  Vallejo is the best.  And Benicia, and Napa (the other 2 cities we cover).  The ward is small, but so much fun.

Also, I have been called to also be an STL (Sister Training Leader).  That basically means I teach in zone meetings with the zone leaders and I also go on exchanges with other sisters in our zone and help them in their areas.  I am excited for this new leadership responsibility and am ready to serve, learn, and grow.

My district leader, Elder Williams, is going to be training a new missionary this coming transfer!  I'm excited for him :)  Sister Harmer is especially excited because it means she isn't the youngest in the zone anymore haha.  Another elder from my MTC generation (we came out the same time) is coming into my zone this transfer as well - Elder Rasch.  I am so excited to see him!  I haven't seen him since the first day I entered the field 10 months ago.  Whew.  Only 8 months left.  Weird.

Anyway, I'm glad I get to stay, because we have loads of miracles happening here!  

We set 3 baptismal dates this week with several investigators: RQ, Joseph, and Tracey.  RQ is this hilarious, humble Filipino young man who just graduated from high school.  Joseph and Tracey are a young couple (21 and 18) who referred themselves to the missionaries!  Their baptisms are going to be in August.  Pray that they will continue to desire to learn and know for themselves this Gospel is true!

This week we also dropped our investigator named Shane, and the same day picked up an investigator named Zayne. Haha.  Rhymes 4 dayz.  Zayne is so sweet!  He is a 22-year-old man who just got out of the army and is now going to school for business.  

Guess what?!  Our investigator, RQ, attended church yesterday!!  We asked him after church how he liked it, and he said, "I felt really peaceful.  It was really nice."  And gave us a thumb's up!  He also said he wants to wear a white shirt and tie to church next week haha.  He said he wasn't dressed fancy enough.  Our ward members did a great job and assuring him he looked great and that there is always next week, as well.  He also stayed for the "break the fast" and got to meet the majority of our members :)  It was such a good Sunday!

The 4th of July was so fun, too!  We talked to a lot of cool people, and the morning was especially fun.  A member of our bishopric, Bro. McAffee, asked if we could come early to his and his wife's house and help them cook breakfast for their neighborhood breakfast.  We agreed, and that morning Sister Harmer and I cooked a whole lot of eggs and bacon.  We were able to meet so many nonmembers!  The two we connected with the most were the McAffee's son Chad's friends - Mitchell and Maria.  Mitchell had the coolest mustache I have ever seen!  It really was cool.  I wish I would've taken a picture with him so I can remember, but it's alright.  His epic mustache will forever remain as a picture in my mind, I suppose.  Mitchell and Maria had lots of good questions and we really got to know them and what they want in life.  

We had to go inside early on the 4th of July - 7pm.  We heard lots of fireworks, and also some gunshots...but it's alright!  We were safe and sound inside our apartment.  

AND!  I also discovered I like something new!  Deviled eggs.  I tried them on Saturday when a member made them, and they were really good - I've never really liked them before, so that was cool!  Also, we ate a less-active member's house (Kesa Nakatouga) yesterday and I ate the best watermelon EVER.  And the best part: she gave us a huge bag to take home.  

So, yes, life is good :)

We had a couple funny experiences this week I wanted to share with you:

1.  The biker man.  This man on a motorcycle who was probably in his 20's was driving alongside our car and then we made that awkward eye contact - you know, the contact where you're both driving and neither of you smile but you both know you saw each other?  Yup.  Then after that he must've thought we were cute or something because he got SUPER excited and started waving his hands at us and trying to get us to pull over.  Sister Harmer says, "Write our number on a picture of the Savior and let's see if he's interested!"  We reach a red light and I hand him the card with the Savior on it and say, "Hi, sir!  We're servants of Jesus Christ, and wanted to leave you with a picture of Him.  Please call us to learn more!"  He looked semi-disappointed and confused haha.  Then the light turned green so we didn't have time to say anything else to him...and he stopped driving alongside us and just drove behind us haha.  That's what happens when you try to flirt with the sister missionaries.  We talk to you about Jesus Christ.  It's the best.

2. Me reading this sign on the side of the freeway while we're driving:

"Keep Napa County glass-winged sharpshooter free" (with a picture of bug repellent).

Me again: "What?  What is that?"

Sister Harmer: "I don't know.  But those glass-winged sharpshooters must be a huge problem if there's a sign that big for them."

Me: "How do we know what they look like?"

Sister Harmer: "We don't.  Wait.  That's dangerous!  We don't even know what they look like!  Oh well."

Haha...okay kinda lame.  But it was funny in the moment...yeah.  Sorry for that lame-o story.

3.  Sister Harmer and I finished up our weekly planning on Friday outside on the grass, and there is this ice cream truck that is always cruising the neighborhoods.  We hear the ice cream truck go by with its annoying "Do your ears hang low do they wobble to the floor?" song pass by.  Then:

*an army of kids sprint out of their apartments and run after the truck

Kids: "Quick, catch the ice cream man!"

Haha.  It was so cute and weird and funny. 

To end with, please look up these scriptures in the Old Testament.  They are so weird they are hilarious haha.  Our investigator Joseph showed them to us this week after our lesson.

Psalms 22:21

Job 10:10

I love you all!  Sorry my funny stories were really lame this week.  I'll try to make them funnier in the future, I promise haha.

Choose the right this week and remember that God loves you!  You are magnificent.

Love,

Sister Kolee Decker 

June 30th - Almost 10 months!

Dear family and friends,

I can't believe yet another month is almost past - I hit my 10-month mark this Friday, July 4th!! 

By the way, Happy Early 4th of July!!  I am so thankful for this country and the religious freedom we enjoy.  Without it, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Christ's restored church in its fullness - could never have been restored.  But we do enjoy religious freedom, and God's kingdom is once again established for the last time before Christ comes again, never to be shaken (See Daniel 2:44-45).

So this week was basically awesome.  All weeks are awesome, though...but this week was super cool because...we had interviews with President Alba!!

I always look forward to those interviews :)  I wish I had more than 10 minutes to talk to him.  I really do look up to him so much!  He is like my dad away from home (don't worry Dad, no one can replace you though)!  He always has so many great insights and is so kind and willing to help.  I am thankful he is my mission president - he has helped me to really challenge myself and step up to the plate.  President Alba has helped me to truly become who God wants me to become, and I am so thankful for his guidance and his help.

Well, I love it here!  You know, the usual. We DID have a surprise yesterday - a less-active member (Aja) that dropped of the face of the planet the past 2 weeks came to church!  It was so good to see her :)  She had a wonderful time, and even offered to give a talk at the veteran's home in Yountville (it was the Napa 4th YSA ward's turn this week to speak).  She is going to Louisiana for the next few weeks, so we are sad about that, but she told us we can keep in touch via Facebook and make sure she is still reading and praying and attending Sacrament Meeting there.

Cool story: last Monday Sister Harmer and I faced our fears and decided to have faith by knocking on this HUGE mansion house.  Lo and behold, this man opened the door and welcomed us right in (we checked to make sure there was a woman as well, don't you worry!).  As it turns out, this man, Drew, is a nonmember, but lives with a member family!  The wife is less-active and the husband is coming back into activity.  We ended up sharing a little thought with them, and they want the missionaries to come over for dinner and teach Drew!  It was neat to see how when we are filled with faith, God will make all things work out for our benefit.

We also made a ward mission plan (finally!) with our ward mission leader, the Elder's Quorum president, and the Relief Society president.  I'm excited for it - everyone was really gung-ho about it.  We're really focusing on reactivation and made a game plan on how we are going to accomplish it.  Reuben Bosch, the recent convert who attended the half-mission conference a couple weeks ago, received the calling to be the Elder's Quorum secretary, and he is stoked for that!  He also really stepped up yesterday at church and made sure everything was ready for the Sacrament.  It is really neat to watch him grow and progress in the Gospel.

This man in our ward said something that I had never thought about!  He said, "Yes, maybe the fields ARE white to harvest, but Heavenly Father is holding back a little to help us take care of our own people before we bring in more."  Hm.  I never thought of that before.

The more I thought about it, the more I recognized that that is so true!  We have about a 60% inactivity rate in our church (according to Bro. Bosch...I don't know how accurate that is).  President Alba told us once at a zone conference that in his home ward in Georgia, the home-teaching and visiting teaching rate is almost 100% every single month.  Guess what the ward's activity rate is?  Almost 100%.  Please do your home teaching and visiting teaching.  Even if all you can do is leave a note on their door simply inviting them to come back, it is worth the effort.  Home teaching and visiting teaching in the church is to help us to all be "nourished by the good word of God" and to "meet together oft" (See Moroni 6:4-6).  God wants us all to be happy and healthy, physically and spiritually.  Do your part to help labor in His vineyard!

Speaking of reactivation, Sister Harmer and I received a call from President Alba this week with a special assignment he would like us to take on with the stake president in the area - working on reactivating this group of 28-38-year-old people who have kind of hit a dead-end in their life.  I am so excited to help President Judd (the stake president here) with this assignment!  Sister Harmer and I have really been helping to break down barriers with the less-active members in the Napa 4th YSA ward, so I'm sure we can help the same way with all God's children in the stake.  I realize that it helps that we are two 5'1" and 5'3" sister missionaries, so maybe that has something to do with it haha.  This new assignment will keep us EXTRA busy :)  I'm stoked for it!   

Oh!  I just remembered the coolest experience.  I was thinking of different things in my life that I could improve on on Friday morning while I was getting ready for the day, and started thinking back to sins I've committed that I wish I wouldn't have.  I recognized that I shouldn't do that, so I said a prayer to Heavenly Father asking to reconfirm that I have been forgiven, and to help me overcome the blues I was feeling because of my thoughts of these old mistakes.

That morning in my studies, I was reading in Mosiah 23, and verses 9-10 jumped out at me: "But remember the iniquity of king Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance; Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of the truth."

:) God answered my prayers so directly with that scripture.  It brought me peace, and really helped me relate with Alma the Elder and his story.  He knows he had done bad things that were "abominable in the sight of the Lord,"  but after sincere repentance, God forgave him and "made [him] an instrument in his hands."  I know that that is the same with me, and with all my fellow brothers and sisters here on Earth.  He will forgive us and help us to become His hands on Earth.

Facebook work update: We are teaching this awesome girl named Merenda from Canada!  She is getting baptized on August 16th and is super excited :)  We passed her over to the elders there, so now we'll just do fill-in lessons with her via Skype.  We're excited for that!

Funny/awkward moment of the week:

Sister Harmer cracks me up.  She is great at keeping the Spirit in lessons even when weird things happen, like a weird experience at dinner the other day.  So, some members in our ward, the McAffee's, fed us dinner.  They invited their home-teachers over, and one of their home-teachers is married to a nonmember.  We shared the Restoration principle as our dinner message at the end of dinner.  

Sister Harmer says during this message, "And my companion Sister Decker is going to share what happened in Joseph Smith's ow--"

During that sentence, one of the home-teachers (as a disclaimer, he was also really old) slaps her calf!  Haha it was weird...she looks up confused and he says, "Sorry.  Mosquito."  And holds up his hand with the mosquito all smashed on it.

I almost lost it, but Sister Harmer kept her cool and we finished the lesson.

Other random facts:

1.  Every morning when we go outside to run the sprinklers are on and we have to run on the sidewalk next to them, but they're the kind that turn, so we always end up getting soaked and I always end up laughing uncontrollably.  It's been a month, and it happens every day without fail. Some things just never get old.

2.  I realized especially this week that the best remedy for EVERYTHING is to laugh about it!  Just smile!  It's okay to be happy and to show your emotions.

3.  Sister Harmer and I had a "movie night" and popped popcorn and watched the old school Johnny Lingo on our iPads.  It's actually approved to watch, no worries!  Has a Church stamp on it.  Quote of the movie: "If she thinks she is worth 8 cows, she will become an 8-cow woman."  Be an 8-cow man/woman this week!  Lol.

4.  I am pretty sure we are only teaching 1 white person.  We are teaching a lot of African-American people, a couple Filipino people, a Fijian, and a Chinese young man.  It's the BEST.  CULTURE!  Yay!  Of course, white people are culture too...just a culture I'm used to. OTHER CULTURES BESIDES MY OWN!  Yay!

5.  We keep contacting the same family with this really sassy mom because we can't remember what people look like.  Each time she says something really sassy to us and then we recognize her and it's really awkward.  Oh well.  God knows she really needs someone to share the Gospel with her.  It does take about 7 times of coming in contact with the Church before people take the lessons.  If that's the case, only 4 more times of contacting her before she wants to learn!  Haha.

6.  We have an unusually large spider population in our apartment.  Sister Harmer squished one yesterday morning, I squished this really juicy one (sorry for the visual) yesterday evening, and this morning there was one on the floor when I was taking a shower!  I always feel really vulnerable when there are bugs in the shower...but oh well.  I squished it and it's gone now, so life is good!  

Anyway.  I love you all!  Make good choices, and remember: live fully, love deeply, and laugh often this week :)

Much love,

Sister Kolee Decker