We have that answer!

To all who sent me Christmas letters:  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

I so enjoyed everyone of them!  I spent most of Christmas morning reading them.  Some of them really touched me, and I can't express how thankful I am to have friends and family like you!  Thank you for you're prayers and support.

To my family whom I love so much:  Thanks for all you do!  I love you!  Bye!

Singing on Christmas Eve.  Cool picture, huh?

J/K, I'll type more.  So this week has been good.  We have two people on date. Gabby, who is a blessing.  Elder Gates and Thomas taught her a couple months ago (before I got here) and she was ready to be baptized, when...I already told you this.  But yeah, she's getting baptized on the 8th.

Then Jose, oh man he's awesome.  He was a member referral.  He's an older Spanish guy with only one leg.  He's been reading the Book of Mormon and wanted to get baptized, so we heard.  So we went over and the member that was with us completely took over the lesson.  So in the next lesson we took another member.  A Spanish convert.  He, Roberto, and Jose clicked.  It was so cool to see.  Anything that Jose didn't understand, Roberto explained.  He came to church on Sunday and asked Sister Chen when he could get baptized.  Yeah, cool huh?  So his date is January 22.  Except the building is only available at 10 am.  I don't understand why people can't just let us have the primary room for one hour of the stinking day.  It's a baptism...a SAVING ORDINANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Let us come for just one hour!!!!  Yeah, that gets me when they make us reschedule because of a party, or something like that.  It's happened to other missionaries.

Then there's Bill.  We're meeting with him tonight.  Also his roommate Richard.  He wants to get baptized too.  We met both of them tracting.  Lexi wants to get baptized.  She's 13 and really smart.  She's like Jefferson, except more humble ;)  And she's not a sporty person.  She's the best drawer in her school though, and an honors student.  She understands EVERYTHING we teach her.  And she accepts it. Her step-mom is a member, but her dad isn't.  Her dad finally let her start going to church, and on the first lesson we asked her if she wanted to get baptized, and she said yes.  The problem is meeting with her. Her mom is really busy, but I think she's going to take some time off work so we can meet with her and Lexi.  We like it when her mom is there.  And she knows how important this is.

And Frank is doing good.  He came to church AGAIN, and he drove himself!  I really didn't think he'd come again, because he wasn't feeling good.  But he did!  He likes to come because of the friends he has at church.  So far he knows two people, the Kings, and Brother Burdickt. (sp?) Now we just need him to realize the importance of going to church.  He's funny though, and Sister Chen has really connected with him.  She has so much hope for him. Those are all in the Wheaton Ward.

Naper 6 ward is dead.  But we're tyring to get it up!  We tracted most of the day yesterday in Naper 6.  We have one return appointment  It was cool because he had just gotten out of his car and we explained a bit about the Book of Mormon, and he invited us back.  We handed him a pass-along card with the church address on it.  The first thing you read on that card is, "What is the purpose to this life?"  And he said, "'What is the purpose to this life?' I have asked myself that question so many times.  I've even asked my pastor, and he said, 'Once you figure it out come tell me.'"

"We have that answer!  It's in the Book of Mormon!"  We said.  So hopefully now that he knows the answer is just inches away he will be there when we go see him next!

Sister Chen is good.  Working with her has been hard, but I've learned a lot.  By this next transfer this will be her 7th month in Wheaton/Naper 6, so I think she's moving.  But that's 5 weeks away.  That means I only have 5 more weeks of learning with her!  That's crazy!  We do have our hard times like every companionship, but we get through them and are stronger because of it.  This morning after comp study we cleaned the apartment.  And I mean cleaned it.  We took down the tree, vacuumed, organized, threw stuff away.  It looks much better.  and when I get back I'm organizing the boxes that were in the car.  We always keep 10000000 pass along cards, pamphlets, etc. in the car, and we haven't really organized them since I've been here, so they're kind of in 10 different boxes . . . okay, make that 4.  But still it's not very organized.  So that's what I'm doing while Sister Chen will attempt to make cheesy broccoli soup.  We got this cookbook from Wheaton ward and Sister Chen said she wants to make me something since I always cook for her.  And I could decide what.  I decided on this one because she LOVES this kind of soup.  She gets it all the time at Panera.  She thinks she's doing me a favor, but really I want her to do this so she will know how to make it when she gets home.  Cuz I doubt they have a Panera in Taiwan.  But who knows!

cuz I put it on at 10 in the morning and I literally don't take it off til 8:30 at night) and I'm always moving around in it.  So yeah, I was thinking of sending it home and buying another one here that's a little more durable.  I have a gift certificate to sears.  I know that the gift certificate won't cover the whole cost, but it'll cover some.  What do you think?

The clothes fit fine.  Thanks for everything you gave me!  Although I lost one of the earrings down the drain, and when I took the drain apart, I couldn't find it.  There was too much crud in there.  We need to get Drano big time!!!  Next week, since I'm outta money this week!  And Sister Chen loves her presents too!  It was her first Christmas, and she loves them!

Some Pictures:

Making Mama Rolls at Lasjana's house!  She needed a roll recipe
and help, so I helped her!  Fun day!  This was on Christmas eve.

  

Most of the Zone at the Mission Home on Christmas

Love you all!

Love Sister Ostler

3 days, but who's counting? *cough* Mom!

Hey Family,

Yeah, 12 will work.  So I'll call 12 Chicago time.  So that's what, 10 your time right?  That might be wrong, cuz remember, I'm not a math person. And what I was going to say just flew out of my head.

So yeah, this weekend was hard.  That's prolly why Mom was thinking about me.  We were driving down Butterfield, and that morning had just been awesome, and we were off to a lunch appointment when we heard a scraping noise.  Butterfield is a busy road, especially around Christmas time.  But we pulled off to the side of the road and looked around our car.  A guy a little older than me pulled off and asked if he could help.  Guess who he was?  Ryan.  The guy I told that if the Book of Mormon was false than I was going to Hell.  But he was happy to see us.  And what happened was that the front fender or whatever had broken, so a piece of plastic was dragging.  The covering under the car.  I had no idea how that happened, cuz we didn't run over anything.  But now that I think on it more, I think it might have happened when we parked a couple times cuz sometimes there would be a big ice thing that looked like snow that the car would bump into on the side of the road.  I hate snow.  But I tucked the plastic under the car, but it kept falling back out and Butterfield is not a road you want to stop on unless it's a real emergency.

So we drove to the Hammers, a family close by, and Brother Hammer bungee corded the thing up.  Of course the whole time we were driving I was freaking out cuz I felt it was my responsibility to make sure the car was in good shape.  Sister Chen was saying pull over, but she didn't understand how dangerous it was to do that on Butterfield.  Butterfield is a curvy two lane 55 mph road, where cars usually go about 60ish.  And that day it was sooooo busy!  So yeah, I was just stressed, and later that day when we were supposed to be tracting I just sat in the car and cried and poured my heart out to sister Chen.  She helped me see that I need to Endure to the End.  I can't give up.  I have to keep going even when times are hard.  There are so many times when I feel I can't be a good missionary, but Sister Chen says, "No, you have to keep going.  Why are you out here Sister Ostler?"  Then I answer, to serve the Lord, and she helps me see that I can do this.

And actually before that I was hoping to get a new companion, but after that I realized there was so much I still needed to learn from her, and plus we have so many people who are potentials for getting baptized, like Bill, Gabby, Lexi, Frank, Lulu (hopefully), and Monica.  And I want to be with her when they do get baptized.  So I was happy when we didn't get a call yesterday morning.  So we're stuck together until February!  Oh well!  I'm sure though that he'll transfer us next time.  But oh man the ZLs are going to DIE!!!!  They called us at 9ish yesterday morning and said, "Have they told you about transfers yet?"

"No," I said.  Since when do ZLs give info on transfers?

"Oh well they're white washing your area."  You should have seen Sister Chen.  She pounded the table with her fist, and I'm sure if they were there she would have punched them.  I would have.  White wash our area, when it's doing so well?  When we have investigators lined up for baptism?  What?  And of course they were joking.  Elders! Oh, and the ZLs have our packages.  I don't know why, but they do.  But they're planning on coming over tomorrow to give them to us.

Oh, and Sister Ika is leaving us.  I'm so sad.  She's my step-mom, and a legend in the mission.  The APs are forever asking her questions of how to do this or teach that.  And she's leaving.  I feel so privileged that I've gotten to work with her though.  And her companion, Sister Leahman is now a trainer!  She's so nervous.  She's as old as Jackson, 4 transfers.  She's a transfer older than me.

On Monday we had a testimony meeting in district meeting and Sister Leahman was bawling, and even Elder French, the AP, got choked up.

Oh so after that meeting we went out to lunch at Buona Beef and I was sitting right across from Elder Gates.  Near the end I asked if they (the APs) know who's getting transferred.  Elder Gates looked right at me and said, "Yes."  And I could see it in his eyes that we were getting transferred.  So in 6 weeks I'll ask again and know the answer.  Us sisters laughed about it afterwards. Elder Gates had no idea that I read him though.  It's kinda funny.

prolly miss that the most, or Dad's Waffles.  Those are good too.  Or Wilson's presents.  Those are always so much fun!  But I had to tell Sister Chen like three times that on Christmas morning we can relax, and we don't have to go do everything at once, and we don't need a schedule of when we're going to do what.  She finally got the picture.  But what we want to do is that night after the mission home go out with Sister Leahman and her greenie (I'm not the youngest anymore!) and go caroling.  It might be surprising but me and Sister Chen have a really good harmony.  She doesn't pronounce all the words correctly, but she has a good soprano, and I just follow her.  Except my voice is more altoish.  But yeah, we sang to one of our investigators over the phone yesterday cuz his Spirit wasn't feeling too good, and after that he felt better.  So see, I can sing!

So I don't really know what else to say.  Other than today Sister Chen wants to go window shopping.  So that's what we're going to go do. Oh joy!

And Dad, thanks for the quote, and your insight.  But I'm still so confused over it.  So when it says God, does it mean Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ?  I thought it meant Heavenly Father, and that He was once a man like us, but grew and endured to the end and gained exaltation and became our God, and then we can become God's and Goddesses too, and always continue to grow and mature.  Although He will always be above us.  But we can create things and have kingdoms of our own.  Isn't that what Moses and Abraham are doing?

Oh yeah, PLEASE send me pics of the Eppichs wedding!  Yeah, I can't believe she's married!  I remember having tea parties with her!  And I remember one weekend that I spent over there we played Canasta the whole weekend with her family.  And the cabin!  Oh man tubing, snowmobiling, sledding, snorkeling, talking, monopoly, hot chocolate, four wheeling, getting muddy, man.  Those were fun fun times!  And that's awesome if Kaitlin goes on a mission.  That would be so good for her.  I've just seen myself grow so much since I've been here.  I'm still a baby and still have so much to learn.  But I'm getting better and not taking no for an answer.  One PI cancelled on us because she couldn't handle Joseph Smith.  But we're still going over there to teach her about him, because she just read about him.  She's not getting away that easily!

And one investigator, Bill.  Oh man the change I see in him after every visit!  Light is just in his eyes when we leave.  And I can tell that when we come back that light is gone, until we're there with the Spirit and teaching him the truth.  Yesterday he got a blessing cuz he was sick, he has a hernia and no one will admit him, and the Spirit was so strong.  I asked him if he felt anything during the blessing, and he said he felt a rushing feeling through his whole body.  I explained that was the Spirit telling him what we were telling was true, and then I asked him if the felt the Book of Mormon was true, and if Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and he said yes!  Then Sister Chen asked him and his roommate to be baptized, and they said YES!!!  Lexi, a 13 girl who's step-mom is a member is also getting baptized.  And a 10 yr old girl who's dad is a member whom we still haven't met with will get baptized. Elder Thomas and Gates were teaching her in the Naper 2nd ward, but that area got taken away from them and then the other elders never followed up.  Then they moved to our area, and we spent about a day trying to figure out who she was and what she had been taught.  Elder Thomas was so funny.  He was like, "Yeah, go baptize her this weekend!  She's been taught everything!"  So that's easy for us!  We're meeting with their family tomorrow.

And Jose is a member referral.  We went back with another member that speaks Spanish (Jose speaks it) and had a powerful first lesson.  He felt the spirit and wants to learn more!  Yeah for members who know how to teach!  Honestly, just read PMG before you go and teach with the missionaries, and recognize that the missionaries have the power and authority to teach!  Share your testimony of course, teach when you feel prompted by the spirit, not when you think something is being left out of the lesson.  Let the missionaries do their part, really.

Okay, well time's up! 

And yes, I have over 20 of those envelopes.  I can't wait to open all of them!  You should see Grammies.  It's so heavy!  I really had to tape that one on.  Although when I got Grandpa Ostlers for a split second I was expecting that Grandma would write too.

 

Well TALK to you soon!  Lots of love,

Sister Ostler

Usually dogs chase missionaries, not the other way around.

Hey Family:

So I just talked to Sister Chen, and I think her family is calling her early in the morning sometime, not sure though.  I'll tell you next week.  But you'll get to talk to me, don't worry.  I kinda wanted to call after 10, before 2.  But I don't know what we have planned for that day.  But I'll let you know.

And that's sad that Tracy left.  I liked her.  But yeah, Arkell will do an awesome job! And Eileen will do an AWESOME job!  She's just awesome all around.  So is Liz working chair three then?  Who's Chair 5?  Amy?  Yeah, I miss the office at times.  I think I'll be better when talking to people when I get back.  Although I might end up asking questions like, "How does religion play a roll in your life?"  "Have you ever thought about where you're going after you die?"  So that might not be a good thing.

Actually I was talking to Sister Ika when we were together for a few days, and she was like, "Sister Ostler, I don't want to date when I get home, I've never been on a date, and I don't know what to do."  So I compared the first date to a first lesson.  Get to know them.  We laughed at that, because on a first lesson you ask people, "How has religion played a roll in your life?"  "What's important to you in this life?" "What church do you belong to?"  "How often to you go to church?"  "Do you think something is missing in your life?"  Yeah, imagine asking those questions on a first date.  But for Sister Ika missionary work is her life.  I'm sad that she's leaving in a week.  But it has to happen :(  I'll see her when I get back though.  Maybe she'll go to BYUI and we'll be roommates!  That would be AWESOME!  We'll stay up and make fun of the elders we served with, or share mission stories.  She's a great story teller.

So it's been COLD!!!!  So cold!  Not colder than Rexburg, but it's the fact that I'm outside ALL DAY LONG!  Last night Sister Chen and I tracted for a good 1 1/2 hours, getting into no doors...well one (I'll tell in a second) and our toes and fingers hurt so bad!  Yeah, everyone was rejecting us, and I started to get really disappointed.  So I pulled out my hymn book and started singing Christmas hymns in between doors.  Sister Chen likes when I sing.  haha!  Oh, and at ZC the sisters in my zone sang.  Including me.  We sang Joy to the World.  It was fun.  And I also had to give a 5 minute talk.  I knew Elder Gates was gonna call on me to give that talk!

Anyways, so yeah, it's been cold.  And yesterday my nice coat got really dirty, so I took it to the cleaners today.  Plus I ripped the lining inside by the armpit while reaching into the back of the car.  I ripped it on both sides, so they're repairing it for me.  It won't be done til Saturday.  I'm gonna have to wear that really big coat that makes me look like a man.  Sister Chen says it makes me look fat, which it does. But hey, it keeps me warm.

So yesterday when we were tracting we stopped a PI (potential investigator) after we were done and she let us in.  We had had no success ALL DAY LONG!  And we started asking questions, getting to know her, and then Sister Chen started to teach the first lesson, so I followed.  We didn't get far cuz we had to go.  But she said, "If we're all Christian, shouldn't we all go to one church?"  And when asked if it made sense to have a prophet on the earth she said yes!  We're not meeting her again til after Christmas, but I think she's gonna be a good investigator.  Shes like your age mom, and REALLY skinny.  I don't think she's had any kids though, and she's single, as far as I know.  But she's nice.

And yesterday, oh man.  So in the middle of the day we were tracting Paddington in Naperville.  That's a long street, and we got to the end of it, and so far like 3 people have opened their door only to turn us away.  Well at the very last door a lady opens the door, and her dog runs out of the house.  And it's running away, and she's freaking out.  She's a grandma.  So I say, "Do you want me to go get it?"  She said yes.  So I hand my bag to Sister Chen and run after it. But it keeps running.  It'll stop and sniff, but then once it sees me walking or running toward it, it runs away.  I tried calling to her, I tried crouching down, but to no avail.  The lady goes after it in the car, but still can't get it.  We ask if there's anything we can do, and she says no.  We feel horrible, and decided that next time we'll bring her cookies or something.  Well we start walking back, when the dog comes up to us.  I stand still in hopes it'll come up to me and I can grab it.  But it goes to Sister Chen who's 5 feet behind me.  Sister Chen HATES dogs.  She's scared of them.  Well I say, "Grab her Sister Chen."  She kinda grabs the dog, and I go over and grab it's collar, and kneel with it on the ground.  I'm petting the thing while Sister Chen goes and gets the lady.  I decide to try to take the thing back to the house, cuz

Oh, and I got the tree, and the popcorn.  I got the dictionary, and everything else you said.  The package from zone conference is not opened yet. And thanks for the ensign.  And when I gave the Hillary weeks CD to Sister Chen she started crying.  In Taiwan no one really gives presents.  So she really liked it.  We listen to it a lot.  Oh, and I don't need a calling card.  We just use our cell phones.

Okay times up!  Love you all!

Oh and about the envelopes.  I haven't opened them yet, but there are some great pictures of me wanting to!  I'll send one with this e-mail!

Love Sister Ostler

If one more person tells me I'm not a Christian . . . . .

Pics - lucky you!

Exchanges with Sister Ika. Dancing in the rain. Man, it downpoured on us!

Thanksgiving at the Newcomers

To answer your questions:

What do you know about the phone call at Christmas? 

I know nothing.  I will find out tomorrow, and let you know next week.

What was the last package you received from home?

I got a calendar today.  Which was flippin awesome!  I sat and looked and looked at it.  It was soooooooo cool!  Thanks so much!  But the last thing I got was the back roller thing.

How is Sister Chen? 

Sister Chen is better.  She's 100% now, and is getting used to the cold.  I find it interesting that you think she's a slave driver.  Her life is the mission though.  I hardly ever see her take a break.  It kind of pressures me into not taking breaks.  And I mean like breaks at home.  It used to be when we got home I would update the area book, then get ready for bed, then read, or do something to cool my mind down.  But now I update my planner, I make better plans for tomorrow, I get ready for lessons, etc.  I feel I have to keep up with her.  I know I don't, but I feel that way.

Also I know she's so frustrated with me.  A mission is VERY emotional. Like you have to be emotionally stable to come out here, because one appointment you're on top of the world because of the amazing lesson and the Spirit, then after 10 minutes of knocking you're down again because everyone is mean to you.  I'm pretty good at keeping my sad, frustrated, angry emotions in.  The emotions I don't like anyone else to see.  If I cry, I usually wait til I'm at home, at my desk.  Yesterday and today I got so frustrated, and it showed, oh it showed.  I broke down yesterday and then today I got mad.  Not at Sister Chen, but at the situation.  We couldn't get a hold of a member and it was so important that we did.  I don't like being bi-polar like I have been the last couple of days.  It's draining, and I know it's frustrating Sister Chen.

Oh dad, do you know any Houses?  There's a brother House in the Naper 6 ward, and he went to Richland.  He kind of remembers Lee.  Oh, and could I also have a copy of Dad's or Jackson's Priesthood line thingy?  Or is that illegal for me to have that?  And when in the world can I open those green envelopes?  It's killing me.  I got one from Whitney today, and I haven't heard from her since I got out here, and I want to know what's in them!  I also got one from the Neilsons.  So a little explanation would be nice.  Oh, and you're going to have to tell me which packages have to wait 'til Christmas, because I just open them unless they say, "Don't open til..."

So lately I've been so stressed out because we're over the miles.  Each month we get 1110 miles, which means this month we can only go 35 miles per day.  Well almost everyday we've been in the 40s.  I feel since I'm the driver and know the area much better than Sister Chen it's my responsibility to get the miles down.  Luckily tomorrow is Zone conference, and we only have to drive to the stake center, which isn't that far away.  Then tomorrow evening we only have to drive to Lombard.  So we'll probably get to 35 miles.  But yeah, I don't know what to do.

But last night the Spanish sisters called us and invited us to go ice-skating.  We said no because we didn't have the miles to go there.  Well they offered to come get us, so today we went ice skating!!  Most of the zone (minus three elder companionship's) were there.  It was so much fun.  I got pretty good at it too.  The first couple times around I was clinging to the edge.  Then I got good enough to actually FEEl like an ice-skater.  Sister Chen is really sore now.  We skated for 1.5 hours.  I'll probably be sore tomorrow, but it was worth it!

And I'll find out about the phone call.  Also didn't Joseph Smith once say "As God is, man will become, and as man is God once was."  Or something like that.  Where is that?  Cuz we got into a discussion about that this week with someone.  Oh man.  He kept saying we were wrong.  And we kept saying, "If you read the Book of Mormon and come to a knowledge that it is true then you will better understand this principle."  That is so true.  If you have a problem with the Mormon faith then read the BOM, and pray about it.  If it's right then that problem will vanish, if it's wrong then all Mormons everywhere are going to Hell.

I even told that to that man.  I said, "If the BOM is right, then what Joseph Smith said was true.  If it's wrong, then I'm going to Hell."  But whenever we bore our testimony he would skip onto a different subject.  Arguing doesn't work, bearing your testimony does.  They can't say you're wrong.

We've had a couple people tell us that we're not Christians this week.  Oh man, that makes me soooooo mad!  A Christian

Oh, and I'd love to hear what Wilson says during his prayers!  That would be awesome!  And yes, I did get the blessings.  Thanks so much.  I never realized how powerful Dad's was until I read it again.

Time to go, love you lots.  Thanks for your prayers and support!

And I got Marie's and Kortneigh's wedding invits!  Oh man, I wish I could be there!  Those two girls look so pretty, and so happy!  I'm so happy for them!

Love, Sister Ostler

The sky on Thanksgiving.  God loves us!!!!!

Exchanges with the professional missionary

These couple days have been amazing.  I'm on exchanges with Sister Ika, the professional missionary.  She goes home at the end of this month, which is sad.  I've learned so much being with her.  She's taught me how to get people talking.  Oh man, yesterday we knocked on a Catholic's door, and he wasn't interested.  Sister Ika started talking about families forever, and I could see that it wasn't going anywhere.  I thought it was a lost cause.  Then out of the blue she said, "Did you know that Christ came to the America's?"  He kinda stopped and just looked at us.  Then she started to explain about the Book of Mormon, and set up a return appointment.  It was awesome.

Afterwards she was like, "What did I say to him that made him want to listen to me?  I forgot!"  It was great!

My sweet gloves!  I'm getting ready for winter.

And my back is better.  I'm sometimes in pain.  But not all the time. 
So for thanksgiving.  Yeah, it's not my holiday, you're right.  Sister Chen didn't understand what it was, even though I tried to explain it to her often.  I had to explain to her like three times that it would be a bad idea to go tracting that day.  And she set up a lunch and dinner appointment too.  Oh man, I've never been fuller in my life!  I think she felt bad for doing that after she saw how much food there was.  And she likes eating.  She loves food and NEVER turns it down.  There has been nothing here that she doesn't like, and she can't waste food either.  Me?  I can turn food down soooooo easily!  But yeah, Thanksgiving was hard I think.

Also with this exchange, Sister Ika has taught me to balance out my time.  Sister Chen and I just go, go, go.  But with Sister Ika, we took a 10 minute break and sat in the car and talked about the POS.  Or we stopped back at home to use the bathroom, or we stayed in a members home for 15 minutes longer and had pizza with them.  Or we went and saw this AWESOME house after our last appointment.  It has thousands of lights on it, and it's somehow connected to a radio station that plays Christmas music and so the lights go along with the Christmas music.  Oh my gosh, it's so awesome!  We could have sat there all day and watched it.  But with Sister Ika it's about having fun.  She showed me that missionary work is fun, not all work all the time, every second of the day.  So I like that.  She kept saying I'm going to train soon.  I laughed at her.  She also kept saying that I"m gonna serve in the city.  I laughed at her again.

And Sister Chen is really sick.  And it's hard for me to get her to rest her body.  I think she would continue to work until she tracted herself into her grave.  No joke.  I talked to Sister Ika about it, and she said she was just like that.  No one could stop her from working, so the Lord humbled and stopped her by breaking her ankle.  She said that Sister Chen will slow down eventually.  But I don't see any improvement in her health, and I'm worried about her.

Oh, something that I would like are talks.  I love listening to talks.  Any talks by GA's.  I love them. I love them.  And Saydi is the only one that has sent me any pictures.  I LOVE PICTURES!  Oh, Amy sent me one, actually.

Oh and also can you mention to people like on the blog, that if they write me I might not write back, but I still so appreciate their letters.  Pdays are short here, and there's only so much I can get done.  And I want to start having fun on pdays, not worrying about who I need to write.  I hope that doesn't sound mean.  But I do appreciate everyone who has written me.  Letters mean so much out here!  I love reading them!

Okay, times up.  I love you all!  Have a wonderful week!  I will.
Love Sister Ostler

Well life is better.

Sister Chen and I have been looking for the little miracles everyday.  It's amazing what can happens when you actually look for the blessings in your life.  Like one day we had two lessons scheduled.  But they both feel through.  Well during the day we were blessed with three lessons we hadn't planned for.  One of them was with Kim.

She lives in a rich area, and usually we have no luck with those.  But were there so we tracted.  I thought she was gonna say not interested, which she did.  Then Sister Chen brought up the Book of Mormon and started talking about it.  She was interested in it and let us in.  We began to teach her the first lesson.  We asked her a question about prayer and how she knew that God answered prayers.  We told her that God hears us and answers us.  She said, "What if you've been asking for a long time."  I could tell she was gonna start crying.  Sister Chen started to say something.  Then I cut her off and asked, "What do you mean?"  She then told us that she'd been praying to have a child for a long time (she's probably your age mom) but she couldn't have children.  She'd married her husband, who through a previous marriage had three children, and she said they were all mad, for whatever reason, I don't know.  But I could tell that there was drama in her house, and the spirit of contention, and she'd been trying so hard to love these children that weren't hers, to be a good mom to them.

I told her about Aunt Julie.  I was able to tell her that Aunt Julie wanted children, but she received a blessing that told her that the children that were supposed to come to her would come a different way, so they started adopting.  And they had four awesome children, including Ben Wallace ;)

Maybe she, Kim, wasn't supposed to have children of her own, maybe the children that came to her were these children that her husband had.  We told her that the Book of Mormon would help her get through the trials and difficulty in her life.  When we set up the next appointment she actually go out her planner to make sure she would be available.  So that was a really neat experience.

And yesterday we had Brother King come with us to an appointment and he had to come from Villa Park to Wheaton for that appointment.  Well, we got there and Bill Anderson said he was really tired and didn't want to meet with us.  I said, "We will only take 15 minutes, then we will be gone."  That's what President Doll told us to do.  So he let us in.  We started teaching and Brother King really helped us.  Then at 20ish minutes, we had just introduced the Book of Mormon and I said, "We've reached 15 minutes, but if you would like to we can continue to teach you for 10 more minutes."  He said yes.  So we taught him for 10 more minutes.  And it was a good lesson, and he invited us back, and if he's not working he'll come to church this Sunday!  Yay for miracles!

So question.  Yesterday was cold.  Brother King said there was a wind child of 17.  That's fine with me.  I'm used to it being from Washington and Rexburg. But Sister Chen got really cold.  She said her bones started to hurt her.  Well it wasn't long after that, that we were invited into a LA home that we tracted into.  It was really warm in there so I thought it would thaw Sister Chen out, but she said she was still really cold, and she was shivering.  Her whole body hurt, and that had never happened to her before.  I was worried about her.

It then took us 25ish minutes to get to our dinner appointment (traffic was terrible) and I had the heat on high, and oh my gosh my contacts started drying out it was so hot in the car!  I had taken off my hat and gloves, but Sister Chen was still bundled up with her scarf on and everything.  She said she felt better, but at the dinner appointment she started hurting again.  I could tell she was in a lot of pain.  Her throat also hurt her that day.  But I could tell she was in so much pain.  She has a high pain tolerance, and you could see it on her face that she was in pain.  She went to bed early last night, and felt better this morning, but what happened?  Was it because she'd never experienced cold like that?  To me it was normal cold weather, but I guess not for her.  And I don't think she understands what she has to wear.  I told her to wear her thermals today, but she didn't.  She just put on a long pair of socks over her nylons.  I'm also making her drink airborne, but she won't take vitamins.  And she also is starting a cold.  And she also won't take a day off either.  She'll continue working even if she's sick.  Sounds like me.  But this week we don't have a day where we can rest.  Today we have to go out and start to proselyte at 12 (we have an appt with Lulu.  Let's hope it doesn't fall through).  Then tomorrow we have some free time, but I know Sister Chen wants to go out and work, and she won't rest.  She'll study the area book and find people we can go stop by during the week.  She won't rest, and I can't make her rest, and I don't want her to get sick, so I don't know what to do.  Help please?  I mean if I was really sick I'd call Sister Doll and say, hey, can we stay in this morning until such and such time so I can rest, then go out and work?  So that's my current issue.  I don't know what to do for her.

Oh, and Jackson e-mailed me back!  Yay!  I was excited.  He said to work with the members, and I laughed at that.  I don't think the past missionaries really had the trust of the members.  But I know that recently we have gotten the trust of several families.  And we're having thanksgiving at the Bishops house tomorrow.  So that'll be good.  Maybe I can talk with him of what we as missionaries can do to get the members more involved.

A lot of times I don't think members realize how important this gospel is and how it's their responsibility to share it with others.  Look at all the quotes from chapter 1 of preach my gospel at the very end.  Everyone of those quotes on missionary work isn't directed towards full time missionaries, but to the members of the church.  Interesting.

And I was a really bad missionary before I came out here.  I wish in high school I was better.  In college?  Well I tried to strengthen those around me.

Oh, and tell Kortniegh to send me a wedding invitation.  I still don't have the story, and I NEED IT!  Come on we've been friends since we were like babies!

Also I never received any package from you, and you still haven't sent me the blessing yet.  Also I don't know if you recieved my letter I sent home last week, but Sister Doll needs three pictures of me.  I mailed my memory card home before I knew that, so could you please send her three pictures (good pictures) of me.  Preferably not ones of me pigging out.  I think a good one would be of me all bundled up.  Okay, well it's time to go.

Love you all! 
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving in warm HI! 
And don't worry about me, because we have two eating appointments tomorrow.  One for lunch, and one for dinner!  I'm a gonna get fat!
Love Sister Ostler

I felt like jumping up and down!

Wow,
I was doing fine, then I read your e-mail, and I started crying again!  It's been a lot better.  Yes, it started last Wednesday, I think.  But yeah, I've been doing better.  Debra finally can be baptized, because she came to church on Sunday!  I'm not sure she thinks she's ready though.  She wasn't home when we went to visit her yesterday, but hopefully we can meet with her soon.  But yeah, the minute I saw her sitting in the chapel, oh my gosh, I was sooooooo happy!  I felt like jumping up and down!

Then on Monday we had a zone conference on how to help people realize how important the Book of Mormon is.  We had the chance to use what we were taught that night.  We stopped by Jessica, an investigators who we haven't seen in awhile.  She was miraculously home, and so we came in, and were planning on staying only 10 minutes.  But she asked why the Book of Mormon was so important, and she didn't understand why she had to read it.  She was basically saying she didn't want to meet with us again.  So we had the chance to teach her that the Book of Mormon can help her through anything, and that if she wants to know for herself, then she'll read and pray about it.  It's like a chocolate cake.  How do you know how good the cake is unless you actually eat it.  How do you know anything about the Book of Mormon unless you read and pray about it?  You don't.  So that was really cool.  We have an appointment with her tonight, that hopefully won't fall through.

Sister Chen is teaching me alot about having hope while tracting.  She says that every time she sees a door she sees hope.  There's someone behind that door that wants and needs to hear the gospel.  And if they're not, there's one at the next door.

I think we're having more success with our LAs.  One, Johny, he has a baby boy out of wed-lock, and at first didn't want us to come by.  But Sister Chen convinced him to let us come by and teach him.  We have to have a member with us since he's a man, and his girlfriend isn't usually home.  So first we called Sister Hammer.  She's amazing!  6 kids under the age of 8, and so patient.  I don't think anyone has seen her get mad.  And she's the pioneer type of lady, bakes her own bread and everything.  But her kids aren't home schooled, and they're a really nice family.  They're just awesome.  She came for the first lesson where we got him fired up on the Book,of Mormon, or I guess the spirit did.  He said He liked the families he saw in church...and I already told you this awhile ago.

So this week we took Brother Ellis who lives close by Johny.  I don't know why Sister Chen called him and asked him, but she did.  It was the spirit.  Because he was the man that Johny needed to see.  Johny had dated Brother Ellis's step-daughter awhile back, and that's why he joined the church.  But I guess something bad happened between Johny and her, which made Brother and Sister Ellis non-too-pleased.  And that night I watched as Brother Ellis forgave Johny of whatever happened, and how Johny was eventually able to accept it, and how he bore a simple, powerful testimony on the joy the Book of Mormon can bring.  We asked Johny if he would come to church on Sunday, and he said yes.  "Do you need a ride?"  we asked.  He said the most humblest sincere yes I have ever heard, because he knew that if he said it, then Brother Ellis would say, "Okay I'll be here to pick you up at 12:30 on Sunday," which is what he said.  Yeah, it was amazing.  But then Johny didn't come to church because he thought Rebecak was going to come home, and he wanted to take her and their son to church so they could see the joy the church brings families.  Last night we had a good lesson with him on the Plan of Salvation, and the Atonement, which is central to the Plan of Salvation
. 
And physically?  Well I"m doing okay.  I'm tired a lot, and I'm so sick of driving!  We're going on exchanges next week, which means I won't have to drive!  YAY!!!  I'm so excited!  Mon-Wed!  And Sister Ika, the sister I"m going with, is a professional missionary.  I can't wait to learn all I can from her!  I did get the roller.  It's weird.  But I loved the instructions.  They were awesome!  Oh man, I wish I had more time to type.  But if I want to send pics, then I'll have to end.  Oh, and it's easy to use a GPS.  Well our's isn't too complicated.  So yeah, it's nice to have one.  I like it when I don't have to use it though.  That voice gets annoying at times! 
Okay, well I'm gonna go!  Have an awesome day!
Sister Ostler

Hey, so these are some pictures of Elder Centin's funeral.  He went home last week, so he died.  I didn't get any on my camera, so these are from Sis. Chen's.  Yeah, we killed him.  He was our DL, and he was so awesome!  I hope you enjoy them!

And I can't think of anything else to say.  My brain is fried, and I think after I deep clean part of the kitchen I'm going to take a nap, cuz sister Chen said you can do that on pdays.

Oh, and about my shoes.  yeah, my brown ones look really bad.  You might have to send me another pair on my 9 mo. mark, or something.  Which is essentially my b-day. 
And I don't think I'll be too homesick this Thanksgiving, because we don't have any real traditions for Thanksgiving, but I'm gonna miss Christmas eve, and new years eve. 
Love you all!
Love Sister Ostler

Picture doesn't do the beautiful fall colors in Chicago justice.

Sister Ostler & Sister Chen in front of the Chicago Temple



Brownies anyone?



I had this craving for ice-cream

Dear Family,

Thanks for your support.  I actually did get your letter Mom, and skimmed through it before I got here.  I'm so sad to hear about Rosie.  Yeah she was a great dog.  How are the other two handling it?  And that's good that Brother King sent you those pictures.  I gave him your address.  He is probably the best mission leader on the planet.  He'll do anything that will make our job easier.  He's all business sometimes, and it's awesome.  He's a cool guy.

Kelsey will only contact us when she wants to meet with us.  Otherwise it's impossible to get ahold of her.  And Lulu?  Our appointments keep falling through.  But she loves to pray, and she enjoys reading the Book of Mormon.  She's just really busy.  But I have so much hope for her.  Oh and one of our investigators, Jill, oh my gosh.  I felt like hitting my head against a wall when we were teaching her.  We taught L1 briefly, then watched the Restoration Video the church made about 5 yrs ago.  It's so good, and so powerful.  We invited her to ponder what she saw and heard and listen to her feelings.  During the movie I felt the spirit so strongly, and I thought she did too.  I thought it would be the time when she finally said, "I felt something."  But the first question out of her mouth was, "Is there significance to all the blond hair, blue eyed people in the movie?  Is that some sort of Mormon thing?"  Yes, actually we hate all people who don't have blond hair and blue eyes.  No!!!  I was a little frustrated.  But she wants to know if there is truth out there.  I think she's a little skeptical of the Mormon church because of false things she's read.  You know, this world puts out so much crap about us, and people actually believe it!  Like one time we had a guy tell us we were dangerous.  Yeah, sometimes I am dangerous.   But only if your name is Jackson, Harrison, Jefferson, Benson, or Wilson should you fear. ;)

But I got Jackson's e-mail, and he said that he is frustrated too.  They are breaking the first commandment of God, and they teach people whacked out things.  The people are wonderful.  Kelsey is a Catholic, and Debra, one of our investigators, was raised one.  There are many good Catholics, but the church. . . . ahhhh frustrating!  I meet so many people who think that they have found God and are "saved."  In fact one baptist said all we have to do is have Faith in Christ, and believe He can save us, then we're saved.  I say unto you wrongo schmongo dude!  What about baptism?  What about covenants?  So many people these days say "I'm a Christian, I follow Christ."  But really they don't.

Nephi, and other Book of Mormon prophets say that they morn because of the unbelief of their brethren.  And let me tell you, tracting is hard because people reject the truth.  They aren't interested in Eternal Life and Exaltation.  "It's not for me,"  they say.  It's so hard to see people turn their back on Christ, and think that they are already good with Him, and they know Him.  And I know that I have a long way to go, but it's hard to see people reject Him so quickly.

So transfers are today.  If we were to get transferred we would have gotten a call yesterday morning.  And we didn't.  So we have until the 23rd (?) of December left.  Hopefully we'll get a baptism! 

And that’s really interesting, that story that the single adult told.  Because actually this past week has been hard.  I don't know if it's because I've been so emotional or what.  But I can't really describe how I've been feeling, inadequate?  But I felt that Sister Chen was looking down on me, and that I wasn't doing things the right way, and that I was holding us back.  So Monday night I kinda brought this up, and we had a long talk and realized that our main problem was communication.  We aren't really communicating with each other, and she said she was so sorry if she hurt me in any way, and I did the same.  I found out that she was feeling some pressure from me in making decisions quickly.  So we got things figured out, and these past couple days have been a lot better, even though we tracted and had little success. 

Oh, and about the e-mails.  I only have ½  hr to type to you today, because my letter to President Doll was kinda long.  So if you'd rather me read your e-mails or you read my e-mails, doesn't matter.  But if your e-mails are longer, that means mine will be shorter. 

So right now we're "teaching" a muslim.  Pres. Doll came to our last appointment with him, and Pres. Doll basically told us that Safak (our investigator) wasn't really interested in changing, just interested in what we believe.  Plus he's leaving to go back to Turkey at the end of the month. 

Oh, before I forget, some things I would like. 

I really want Hollands talk called "Safety for the Sole" he gave a few years ago on the Book of Mormon.

And also the Psych address from BYUI, as well as the dance classes address.  Also Mr. Deatherages address--even if it's just the one at the school.  And Grammie and Grandpas.  I wrote them a letter last week then realized I had no idea where to send it.  I only know they live on walker rd in Hermiston. 

I'm sending a package home today.  It has my high heels (cuz I don't wear them.  Tracting would kill me in the them) and the skirt you sent me in the MTC.  I don't need three black skirts.  Maybe Saydi will like it, or you.  Along with something else you might like ;)

And I'd love pics of you guys and what you're doing.  Like not just printed on a page, but an actual picture so I can put it in my album or hang it up.  And no, I don't print off the e-mails...takes too long.  That's why I like letters.  I wait for the next morning to read them.  I read them while eating breakfast.  Night time I'm always doing something to prepare for the next day. 

So cool story. 

Yesterday was soooooo hard!  Appointments feel through, didn't get to see any of our PIs, none were home, or just didn't open the door.  Frustrating!  So we were tracting, and hit a Muslim neighborhood.  No good.  But we kept trying.  Sister Chen got really thirsty, and she hadn't brought her water that day.  So we decided to find a gas station and get some water.  Rewind.

Earlier that day we had a lunch appt with Sister Mendez, an LA, and she gave us directions to her daughters place, another LA.  All she wrote down was the building name, the street and her name.  I didn't even have the complete address, and I didn't know where the street was.  She lived in apartments , BIG apartments.  Her daughter in law told us to take the left hand elevators, go the 19th floor, turn left, last door on the right.  She TOLD us that.  And you know that I don't do well with people telling me things.  They have to be written.  Plus I didn't even know where the street was.  I figured we'd set aside some time another day to try and find it.

So as we were looking for a gas station, we passed a place where I had thought I'd seen a DQ awhile ago, but really wasn't there.  I had this craving for ice-cream, since yesterday was really warm.  (I was wearing short sleeves).  Sister Chen loved the idea.  So we typed in DQ to the GPS, and the nearest one was on Liberty St.  That was the street that Jackie (the lady we were wanting to find) lived on.  So we thought, okay, we follow the GPS, and find her apartment, after we get ice-cream.  On the way we passed a Wendy's, and we had previously been talking about their frosties and how good they were, so we stopped there instead.  I was planning on eating on the way, but Sister Chen wanted to take a break.  So we stayed inside to eat.  Oh it was worth it!  So good, and much needed!

So then we were on our way again!  We found DQ, and also the big buildings that Jackie lived in.  We parked a couple blocks away so we could contact on the way.  To get into the building you had to have a certain key. But it just so happened that as we approached them, so did two other people, so we slipped in right behind them w/out causing any suspicion.  And you know what?  I remembered everything Sis. Mendez's daughter in law told me of how to get to her apartment.  I normally would have forgotten, but this time I remembered!  So we knocked on the door, no answer.  Then Sister Chen called Jackie.  And she was just getting off the elevator!  We got to talk to her, and helped her realize the importance of coming to church.

Imagine what would happen if we had gone to DQ?  It wasn't a sitdown restaurant, just a drive through.  Or if we hadn't sat down in Wendy's?  Or parked 2 blocks away?  We would have missed her?  Or if I hadn't been craving ice cream?  Yeah, it would have taken us longer to find her.  It was a miracle!  God works in mysterious ways, even giving me the craving for ice-cream, which I hadn't had since I left the MTC. 

Okay, well times up.  And I'm tired.  I don't think I've been so consistently tired in my life!  But I just keep working!  Okay, love you all, and thanks for everything!

Love Sister Ostler

Life has ups and downs

Hey guys,
So lots of questions you asked me.  I've never gotten an email from Jackson.  FYI.  But I'll send him one today.

About my back.  It's getting better.  And I don't really want to take the time out of my pday to go get a massage.  Plus Kristi Bair (my MT at home) said that it usually takes 6 times to do PR for it to really start working--and have a lasting effect.  Which is true.  When at home I had it done 6 times, and the pain didn't come back for about 1 1/2 months, which was a record.  But the pain isn't as bad as before.  Oh, and I tried that one thing that Brother Anderson said to do.  It hurt my back, and it was weird.
 
Tracting is getting better.  We're finally seeing the fruits of our labors!  I'll tell later.  But when they open the door we smile and say, "Hi, we're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints.  And we have a very important but simple message about the family, or about how Christ's gospel is here on the earth (or something else, depends on what we feel like saying) do you maybe have just 15 minutes we could share this message with you?"

Then their responses vary.
"No thank you, not today."
"I'm busy right now" which we will respond, "Is there another time we can come back?"  "No, not really." So we leave.
"I'm not interested, but thank you."
"I'm already a Christian."  "So you believe in Christ?" "Yes."  "We do too.  Have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon?"  "Um..a little."  "It's another testament of Jesus Christ...." yadayadayayda.
My favorite one is "I have my one church, and I"m happy with it."  But your church is like the main course.  After the main course what do you have?  DESSERT!!!!  Our gospel is sweet, as it says in the scriptures :)  Sister Chen and I made that one up ;)
Actually one lady was like, "I'm not trying to convert you, so don't try to convert me."  Okay then, we'll leave.

Sister Chen is nice.  She's good with the paper work aspect of the mission.  I'm terrible at it.  I remember being RS pres, and I just focused on what the girls needed, not what the stake RS pres needed. Bad, I know, because His house is a house of order.  But I just hate paperwork stuff.  She's the oldest of two.  She has a younger sister.  She's the only one in her family who is LDS.  Her mom actually wouldn't speak to her for a year at one point...I think when she served a mini-mission.  She's been preparing to go on a mission since President Hinckley gave that Book of Mormon challenge in 2005.  So that's cool.  And no, we haven't done splits.  I'm hoping that the sisters in our zone stay the same, because I really want to work with Sister Ika.  Oh man, she's so cool!  She's going home in December.  And she is an AWESOME missionary!  She knows her stuff!  And she's so sweet!  Us four, Me, Sister Chen, Ika, and Leahman, are the only sisters in our district.  There's another spanish sisters in our zone.
 
And for the Darling recipe.  Look her up on the BYUI website in student directories.  Rachael Darling.

We can go once every other month.  We got special permission last month :)

And yes, Kortneigh being engaged is really cool!  It's weird to think that she is engaged though.  I remember when we were kids, like 13, and we thought we were going to marry Paul Crawford.  Yeah, I guess that didn't work out too well.  But I'm excited for her.  Tell her she has to write me, and tell all about him, the proposal...just everything!  AND IF I DON'T GET AN ANNOUNCEMENT THEN I MIGHT DIE!!!!

The wind storm?  Didn't really notice it.  I'VE LIVED IN REXBURG AND TC MY WHOLE LIFE I'M USED TO THE WIND!!!  I don't notice things like the weather too much, unless it's really cold or hot.  Then I notice it.
   
But if you were to only send me one thing for the rest of my mission, I would absolutely love the blessing that President Pulsipher gave me, and the one dad did before I went into the MTC.  Like honestly.  I really want those.

So yes, mom, you were right.  This week wasn't the best.  The end of the weeks are always hard for me.  I'm going to tell you something surprising.  I HATE SATURDAYS!!!!  We don't have any appointments, so we have to go tracting ALL DAY LONG!  It's tiring.  When we get home I just want to sleep!  And the end of the week, I have no idea why it's hard, but it just is.

But Monday was pretty cool.  We stopped by Angel, an investigator who wasn't home.  So we walked to her neighbors who is a potential investigator.  Along the way we met a women and started sharing our message with her.  She said, "I'm already a member, I just haven't been to church in a long time."  We never got her name.  But I think when she means a long time, she means A LONG TIME!  So Sister Chen shared a simple message about prayer with her, and gave her our info.  She said, "That message was exactly what I needed to hear."  So that was cool.

Then on Saturday, I think, we were tracking in this place in Warrenville.  We went there last Sunday to tract and both of us had a good feeling about that place.  So we went back.  Our second door was a girl named Lulu.  She was a mother of three.  She said to come back on Tuesday at four.  Usually when people say that, they're gone when we come back, or it's a bad time.  But we do it anyways.

So we went back yesterday, and there were kids EVERYWHERE!  But she let us in, and we asked her some questions.  She basically told us that she had had her first child alone, without a husband or anything.  Then she got a BF, and had her second child.  Then when she was pregnant with Sophie, her baby of 6 mo. her BF left her.  After the two children she had alone she became angry, and wondered why God would put her through this.  So now she's just looking for God.  She was raised a church going Catholic.  But she's never read the bible before.  She has no idea who Abraham, Noah, Moses are.  What the?  What do they teach in the Catholic church?  Ask Wilson if he knows who those people are.  I bet he could tell you.  But she's been going to different Churches.  She didn't like a church in Wheaton, and she didn't like the Jehovah's Witnesses.  YAY!  "I just want someone to explain the scriptures to me...to teach me, " she said.  So we taught her the first lesson.  And she was hanging on every word.  It was so awesome.  I asked her if she came to find out the Book of Mormon was true what would she do.  And she pretty much said join our church.  It was awesome!  So she's going to read and pray, and we have an appt with her tomorrow!  She's pretty much awesome!

We got two new investigators yesterday.  Lulu and Jill.  Jill is Debra's tenant.  Debra is someone who should be baptized BUT SHE WON'T COME TO CHURCH!  So we've been teaching Jill too.  We had already given her the commitment to read and pray.  Yesterday when we went to visit Debra only Jill was home, so we talked to her (shes 28 next week).  At first I could tell Jill didn't want to talk to us.  But she had some questions like what's with some guy appearing to Joseph Smith and he was resurrected.  So we explained who Moroni was, and we ended up teaching her the POS (Plan of Salvation).  By the time we left she said, "I always have a good feeling when I talk to you girls."  Could it be the Spirit?  We're having a "party" next Wednesday to celebrate her birthday.  We really gained her trust yesterday, and so she's more willing to learn.  She was born and raised Lutheran, and kind of accused me of not really knowing the BOM was true because I was born and raised Mormon, so it was the only thing I knew.  So I had to explain to her that I wasn't riding on the coat tails of my parents testimony.  I"ll actually get that sometimes.  There have been a few people that ask us if we were born a Mormon.  And every time I say "yes,"  they give a certain look.  But I know that I'm not out here just because of you guys.  I'm out here because I know that this gospel is true and can truly bless everyone.
 
Oh, and the Book of Mormon is AMAZING.  I love reading it.  It brings me so much peace and comfort.  Oh, and does anyone know who wrote the introduction?  Was it Bruce R. McConkie?  I know it wasn't Moroni.  He wrote the title page.  Learned that in Seminary ;)
But I think now that more and more members are starting to trust us.  They're seeing that we're hard working missionaries.  So that's good.
And Dad, you should "work on" Liz.  She has a BOM, I gave one to her.  This gospel can truly bless her life so much!  She's such a good person.
 
Oh, and Mom, instead of getting pumpkins for all the missionaries, I'm sure that they would like referrals even better.  Referrals from members are the key.

Oh Kelsey finally contacted us!!! yaya!  She'd been super busy.  So we met her in a little coffee house (we had Hot chocolate).  And she's read the Book of Mormon a lot, prayed, got no answer.  And she admitted that she was the reason she was getting what she called static.  She said, "I don't know if I want to know that it's true.  Because then if it's true then everything I was raised to be goes down the drain.  And if I become a Mormon my family will disown me."  She's Catholic.  (Didn't I tell you everyone was Catholic over here?)  But she said that she would keep trying.  Yeah, she even teaches a bunch of 4th graders at a Catholic school, or something like that.  But when she called us and told us she still wanted to meet with us, I could honestly see her in the temple, taking her endowments out, and getting married to this awesome, good-looking RM in the temple, and me and Sister Chen just bawling our eyes out, because we knew what sacrifices she had to make, and also that she had finally come to realize the truth.  Oh man, come on Kelsey!  We know you can do it! 

Oh, I got in an "argument" with this black preach who was obsessed over race about who God was.  He was another one that thinks the Godhead is one in person.  He couldn't even explain himself when we again showed him the example of Christ being baptized.  Then he told me that I couldn't testify the Book of Mormon was true, because I didn't see Joseph Smith "write" it.  Um, yes actually that's what I was called to do.  So sorry.  But that made me mad.  His mom was cool.  She took a copy of the Book of Mormon, and told me to hang on to what I believe.  She as 86ish years old.  Cool lady.

Okay, time to go!
Love you!
Love Sister Ostler

Alot of tracting

Hey,
I don't have a lot of time.

We went to the temple today as a district, minus the APs, and then we couldn’t find a computer to type on four a couple minutes.  And the temple oh my gosh!  I was sick the entire session, and so it was naturally the longest session yet.  My stomach hurt so bad!  I folded my arms and was really tense, so the temple worker thought I was cold.  It was only us missionaries in the session, so they had to bring temple workers to be the main couple and the prayer.  So that was interesting.

This week was hard.  Alot of tracting (100 contacts exactly!)  But Monday was so good!  District meeting was AMAZING!  The other sisters were late, so while waiting Elder Gates went to the piano and started dinking around.  He played the first couple notes of "River Flows in You."  And I was like, "That's one of my favorite songs!  My sister plays that one!"  So he played it, and it was sooooo good!  He also played a little bit of "Only Hope."  So that really reminded me of Saydi.  I got a letter from her yesterday, which was AMAZING!  But I won't have time to write to her today ;()

But then we stopped by one of our investigators.  We'd only taught her once, and we weren't sure she was really interested.  Every time we went over there she was gone.  But this time she was there!  She only had 10 min. so we taught her about prayer.  Then we gave away a BOM to a baptist lady.  Wasn't interested, but said she’d read.  I don't remember what happened next...oh we ran into one of our earlier contacts from a couple weeks ago, and she was going through a hard time.  Her boyfriend of three years just left her, turns out he'd been cheating on her that long too.  So we gave her the faith in Christ DVD.  That's a good movie.  We'll stop by some other time too.

That night we had an appointment with Kimberly, and we took Sister Caroll with us.  She and her husband live right by Kimberly.  But of course Kimberly wasn't home.  So we tracted.  Got someone interested in the BOM, and some return appointments.  We had one guy stand in his doorway (it was a u-shaped appt. complex) and watch us.  So that was creepy.  But there were a lot of people around, so we weren't too worried.  But then that night Sister Caroll came with us to another appointment.  No one answered the door for awhile, but finally Jessica did.  We had 15 minutes to teach her.  And we taught about prayer.  It was cool because she's Latino, and Sister Caroll served in El Salvador.  So she spoke Spanish with Jessica for a bit.  And plus Sister Caroll is an awesome teacher and really added to the lesson.  That was just a really good day.

Still no one showed up to church.  We can't get ahold of Tony.  It's frustrating because on Sunday we went there after church to see why he didn't come, and we could hear him playing with his boy inside, but he didn't answer the door!  That happened another time too.  And he's not returning our calls!  SO FRUSTRATING! 

Yesterday was hard.  And my back has been killing me.  Like it's never hurt this bad for this long.  Alot of the time it's like hot needles poking me in my back.  It's frustrating because there's nothing I can do about it.  I've learned to drive with my right arm (it's my left that's killing me) and to carry my scriptures and stuff in the crook of right arm.  But by noon my back hurts!  Expect for today...until right now.  So if you have any suggestions, like exercises, or things I can eat.

Okay, well sorry to end on a not-so-good note, but I gotta go!

Love you, sorry it's short.

Love, Sister Ostler