Transfers - BAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

AHHHHHHHHH!! Where does the time go??? This transfer I am training on my own! I don't know why -- I knew I was going to be training before hand -- but I'm super nervous. I think training this last transfer went so well because Sister Laird and I were there to back each other up and fill in where the other forgot something! But now I am 100% responsible for what I do and don't teach the new sister. Anyway, her name is Sister Wyatt, from ST GEORGE Utah (Jason know a wyatt family there?), and she has been teaching the last two years; apparently, President says that she loves sports just as much as I do! Maybe I can learn some new skills as we exercise in the morning! Anyway, it was kind-of a reality check for me, to realize that I wasn't going to be tag teaming this one, and it scares me a little bit! But, I know that the Lord will help me fill in the gaps as long as I am doing my best and being obedient and being myself!

I get to stay in Elk Grove. I'm happy about that. I still feel like I have a lot of work to do. Things are still slower than before, but we have faith that God will bless us with people to teach. ACTUALLY, a couple of things have happened this last week! First of all, we invited Carlos, Alma and Manuel's 9yr old son, to be baptized, and he said yes. He ended up changing his mind later because he wants to wait for his family; BUT because he said he wanted to be baptized, that finally got the family to a baptism, something we've been trying to do for a long time! We were so happy and we feel that was part of the reason why we needed to invite them to be baptized.

THEN there's Karoly, Andrea's mom (the little girl who just got baptized.) The bishop can't find her records, nor could her old bishop in Hayward; so he said she needs to be baptized again. So now we have an excuse to go over and teach her and her less active husband the lessons again! And Andrea can help us! She is so cute!

Claudia is MIA. She's avoiding us, which is really sad, but there isn't much else we can do. We even HEART ATTACKED her apartment door and had to run "Mission Impossible" to the front office of her apartment to borrow their tape to tape the hearts on! It was such a FUN rescue activity. Our exchange, Bonnie, got us some good pictures and was a good sport about all of it. Bonnie is amazing! She served her mission in San Antonio, Texas.

I don't know if you remember Alma and Julio and Ricky, our recent converts (the ones you talked to on Mother's Day) -- they are going through a rough time right now. Alma was diagnosed a few weeks ago with breast cancer. She is such an amazing woman, she looked at all of her options and has chosen to take the most efficient and successful treatments. So she went in and had surgery to remove the breast and lymphnods (I don't know if I'm saying these body parts right), and she starts chemo in a few weeks. It was a real shock for everyone, but they are doing really well with it. Julio and the kids came to church, on Sunday, for the first hour and that made us really happy. They have such amazing faith and this trial was given to them for a reason. It's amazing to see how the Lord works and prepares his children to receive the gospel right when they most need it! The gospel is amazing.

So, as we haven't really had many people to teach, we've been doing a lot of member work and tracting (aka knocking doors). Sister Harris and I went on splits last week and ended up talking to a couple of really great people. One of them was this guy who, of his own free will and generousity, offers his home to help people with drug addictions kick the addiction. We walked up to him and he asked us if we were Jehovah's Witness (C.A.M.E.) and we told him we were Mormons; and he said "Oh, great! You are just the people I want to talk to." I thought that we were going to be dealing with a "Bible basher" but then he ended up asking us about the Family History Center that he friend told him about, located at the stake center. It ended up being a really great contact and he ended up asking us to send the English elders by.

Then, Sunday, we ended up being 40 minutes late to our dinner appointment because we were talking to one of Long Beach University's basketball players about the gospel. He was really nice and it was neat to hear all the things that have lead him to want to find the truth. He's had contact with the church before, through an old friend, and was eager to read the Book of Mormon. Someone he knew (aunt, sister or someone close to his mom) walked up and as she walked in the door, she said, "Oh yeah, Sister Moss and Nanai are visiting me as well!" Those are two of the sister missionaries in the Sacramento zone! It was such an amazing contact and we ended up leaving him with a Book of Mormon to read and take back with him to Long Beach! I LOVE miracles like that. What made the miracle even better -- I was driving and I remember thinking "I need to find the shade..." If I hadn't kept driving down the road to find the shade, we wouldn't have ever found him! God is guiding this work, even if he has to guide his missionaries to the shade! Missions are so cool! Kim and Kody, I would HIGHLY recommend serving one!

Well, my time is up. I wish everyone a wonderful week, and remember that your Hermana loves you! I hope this letter wasn't too crazy and all over the place for you! Until next week...

Love Always-
Hermana Bradfield