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