by Alex Serrano
Friday, December 25, 2015
Sunday, December 20, 2015
The Rain in SoCal Stays Mainly in My Shoes
Hello out there!
This week, it rained! Good. SoCal needs it. Funny story about that, though. Last night, we had parked by the curb of the road, leaving about a foot between the car and the curb. It was super dark, so when I stepped out, I stepped into this huge puddle of water. I gasped and then squealed from the cold water. Sister B---, not knowing what had just happened, ran to the other side to make sure I was ok. I looked at her with big eyes, took my right shoe off, and turned it upside down, letting a good handful of rainwater trickle to the ground. We were laughing SO hard! :)
Tuesday, we went to go set up our booth at Valley College, and we saw the News van there. They are still interviewing people about the shootings that happened last week. I feel for the families who were affected by this, and I pray for them a lot, but I honestly can't wait for all of it to be over with.
At the beginning of the week, while we were at the store, a lady saw us and said, "Hey, could I get I picture with you guys?" Sister B--- and I looked at each other, and back to her. "Umm...sure!" Turns out, her sister had been a recent convert, and she thought it would be cool to send her sister a selfie of the three of us. Yeah, that was a cool idea. Now, if she got baptized, her coolness rating would be a good solid 10.
Speaking of baptism...A--- GOT BAPTIZED!!! :) WOOHOO! We are so dang proud of him! The very next day, he received the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood. Also, our recent convert E--- passed the sacrament for the first time. *sniff, sniff :')
Have all of you seen the new video the church has put out? "A Savior is Born" is SO GOOD! If you haven't seen it, I invite you to watch it. If you've already seen it, then GO WATCH IT AGAIN because it's so beautiful!
This week, it rained! Good. SoCal needs it. Funny story about that, though. Last night, we had parked by the curb of the road, leaving about a foot between the car and the curb. It was super dark, so when I stepped out, I stepped into this huge puddle of water. I gasped and then squealed from the cold water. Sister B---, not knowing what had just happened, ran to the other side to make sure I was ok. I looked at her with big eyes, took my right shoe off, and turned it upside down, letting a good handful of rainwater trickle to the ground. We were laughing SO hard! :)
Tuesday, we went to go set up our booth at Valley College, and we saw the News van there. They are still interviewing people about the shootings that happened last week. I feel for the families who were affected by this, and I pray for them a lot, but I honestly can't wait for all of it to be over with.
At the beginning of the week, while we were at the store, a lady saw us and said, "Hey, could I get I picture with you guys?" Sister B--- and I looked at each other, and back to her. "Umm...sure!" Turns out, her sister had been a recent convert, and she thought it would be cool to send her sister a selfie of the three of us. Yeah, that was a cool idea. Now, if she got baptized, her coolness rating would be a good solid 10.
Speaking of baptism...A--- GOT BAPTIZED!!! :) WOOHOO! We are so dang proud of him! The very next day, he received the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood. Also, our recent convert E--- passed the sacrament for the first time. *sniff, sniff :')
Have all of you seen the new video the church has put out? "A Savior is Born" is SO GOOD! If you haven't seen it, I invite you to watch it. If you've already seen it, then GO WATCH IT AGAIN because it's so beautiful!
https://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HP_SU_11-29-2015_dMIS_fSPC_xLIDyL1-A_
Have a great week!
Sister Sommers
Have a great week!
Sister Sommers
Monday, December 7, 2015
Praying for San Bernardino
Hello, my wonderful friends and family,
This week was definitely the craziest week of my mission.
Last Monday, we went to the mall and saw Santa! I wanted to get a picture with him so bad, but it costs $20 to get a stinkin' picture with the jolly old man. As soon as he saw us, he gasped and said, "Sisters! Santa's a Mormon too!" We almost got a free picture with him, but then a lady said we couldn't because Santa wasn't in charge. But he's Santa, of course he's in charge. He then went on to tell us that while he served his mission in Texas, he was companions with an elder whose grandmother wrote the famous primary song "I am a Child of God." He also says that while he's on "Santa duty," he lets all of the kids and their parents know that they are children of a loving Heavenly Father. WAY TO GO, SANTA!
Tuesday, we were kicked out of our apartment because the elders needed a place to live. We are now living in a home share in Devore with Sister A---. She is so cute, but very feisty. Haha! She's not afraid to tell you what's up. She is 85-years-old, but SUPER active! She's quite amazing. Her house is huge! There are so many rooms, I might have to use my new GPS to get around. That's really why I needed the GPS, mom. :) She has had three prophets, Thomas S. Monson, Gordon B. Hinkley, and Howard W. Hunter, as well as other apostles and members of the Quorums of the Seventy, stay at her house. It makes me feel very honored to live here.
Wednesday, there was quite a bit of an uproar here in San Bernardino. As many of you may know, there was a shooting that involved 3 gunmen, killing 14 people, and injuring 21. You know it's serious when your phone is being blown up all day full of text messages and phone calls, making sure you're okay. And when you realize basically the whole world knows about it, and the President of the United States is talking about it on TV. (Yes, I glimpsed the TV in our home share.)p Practically, the whole city was on lockdown. I feel very blessed knowing that all of the missionaries were kept safe. The more I thought about what had happened the previous day, the more I realized that the Lord was really protecting us. All of the missionaries have District Meeting on Tuesdays, but because some of the elders in our zone were moving into our apartment that morning, they decided to have their meeting on Wednesday. Their district meets in the Waterman building, which is on the same road the shooting happened. While the shooting occurred, their district locked themselves inside the churchp for a while. If they had decided to have their meeting on Tuesday, who knows where they could have been the next day. That same morning, we were going to pick up, K---, who was gonna go to Valley Community College with us, to help set up our booth. Instead, she said she would just meet us over there. If we would have picked her up, we would have been on Waterman the same time the shooting happened. We also weren't that excited to move out of our apartment, especially since Sister B--- had just unpacked all of her things. But thinking back on it, I now realize that it's been a huge blessing for more reasons than one. Thank you for all of your prayers!
Thursday was my baby sister, Sarah's birthday! HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY, Sa-Rah!!! BUT GUESS WHAT, it was my birthday too! I'm officially a 1-year-old missionary! That's a big number ————>>>> ONE! Sister B was even kind enough to buy me Cold Stone. :)
Friday, our investigator, A--- told us that he wanted to get baptized! His parents aren't too thrilled about it, but he knows it makes him happy. HE WAS SO DANG PREPARED!!! He'll be getting baptized this Saturday. A--- read the Book of Mormon in three days! THREE! He's reading it a second time, only this time, he's taking notes on it. When he finished 1 Nephi, he had twelve pages of notes! TWELVE! He looked like a little boy on Christmas Day when we took him on a temple tour, and even asked if it was Fast Sunday yesterday, so he could have the chance to fast. He also wrote and shared his testimony on faith with us, and gave us a copy of it because we thought it was so beautiful. We are so excited for him.
So there's my week. I am so grateful for all of the prayers, and I'm especially grateful that the Lord keeps careful watch of His missionaries.
Have a great and safe week!
Sister Emily KaeLynn Sommers
This week was definitely the craziest week of my mission.
Last Monday, we went to the mall and saw Santa! I wanted to get a picture with him so bad, but it costs $20 to get a stinkin' picture with the jolly old man. As soon as he saw us, he gasped and said, "Sisters! Santa's a Mormon too!" We almost got a free picture with him, but then a lady said we couldn't because Santa wasn't in charge. But he's Santa, of course he's in charge. He then went on to tell us that while he served his mission in Texas, he was companions with an elder whose grandmother wrote the famous primary song "I am a Child of God." He also says that while he's on "Santa duty," he lets all of the kids and their parents know that they are children of a loving Heavenly Father. WAY TO GO, SANTA!
Tuesday, we were kicked out of our apartment because the elders needed a place to live. We are now living in a home share in Devore with Sister A---. She is so cute, but very feisty. Haha! She's not afraid to tell you what's up. She is 85-years-old, but SUPER active! She's quite amazing. Her house is huge! There are so many rooms, I might have to use my new GPS to get around. That's really why I needed the GPS, mom. :) She has had three prophets, Thomas S. Monson, Gordon B. Hinkley, and Howard W. Hunter, as well as other apostles and members of the Quorums of the Seventy, stay at her house. It makes me feel very honored to live here.
Wednesday, there was quite a bit of an uproar here in San Bernardino. As many of you may know, there was a shooting that involved 3 gunmen, killing 14 people, and injuring 21. You know it's serious when your phone is being blown up all day full of text messages and phone calls, making sure you're okay. And when you realize basically the whole world knows about it, and the President of the United States is talking about it on TV. (Yes, I glimpsed the TV in our home share.)p Practically, the whole city was on lockdown. I feel very blessed knowing that all of the missionaries were kept safe. The more I thought about what had happened the previous day, the more I realized that the Lord was really protecting us. All of the missionaries have District Meeting on Tuesdays, but because some of the elders in our zone were moving into our apartment that morning, they decided to have their meeting on Wednesday. Their district meets in the Waterman building, which is on the same road the shooting happened. While the shooting occurred, their district locked themselves inside the churchp for a while. If they had decided to have their meeting on Tuesday, who knows where they could have been the next day. That same morning, we were going to pick up, K---, who was gonna go to Valley Community College with us, to help set up our booth. Instead, she said she would just meet us over there. If we would have picked her up, we would have been on Waterman the same time the shooting happened. We also weren't that excited to move out of our apartment, especially since Sister B--- had just unpacked all of her things. But thinking back on it, I now realize that it's been a huge blessing for more reasons than one. Thank you for all of your prayers!
Thursday was my baby sister, Sarah's birthday! HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY, Sa-Rah!!! BUT GUESS WHAT, it was my birthday too! I'm officially a 1-year-old missionary! That's a big number ————>>>> ONE! Sister B was even kind enough to buy me Cold Stone. :)
Friday, our investigator, A--- told us that he wanted to get baptized! His parents aren't too thrilled about it, but he knows it makes him happy. HE WAS SO DANG PREPARED!!! He'll be getting baptized this Saturday. A--- read the Book of Mormon in three days! THREE! He's reading it a second time, only this time, he's taking notes on it. When he finished 1 Nephi, he had twelve pages of notes! TWELVE! He looked like a little boy on Christmas Day when we took him on a temple tour, and even asked if it was Fast Sunday yesterday, so he could have the chance to fast. He also wrote and shared his testimony on faith with us, and gave us a copy of it because we thought it was so beautiful. We are so excited for him.
So there's my week. I am so grateful for all of the prayers, and I'm especially grateful that the Lord keeps careful watch of His missionaries.
Have a great and safe week!
Sister Emily KaeLynn Sommers
Friday, December 4, 2015
Maps???
Soooo...
Tuesday and Wednesday I got the flu AGAIN! NOOO! NO MORE SICKNESS ALLOWED!!! Blah...like literally, blah. But I'll do you all a favor and not go into the details. While I waited to get my new companion, I was companions with Sister M--- for a couple days, who took super good care of me. She'd only been out for six weeks and she didn't even know me that well, but she took care of me and cleaned our apartment If that's not unconditional love, then I don't know what is. I was supposed to pick up my new companion, Sister B---, but since I was bed bound, my loyal roommate, Sister G--- brought her over for me. I absolutely LOVE Sister B---! She is the sweetest, cutest, most patient person I've ever met. I don't know how she does it. She makes being Senior Companion not so stressful. What a blessing!
One thing that keeps us on our toes is knowing where everything is. We cover two stakes, including the mountains. You all know how great my sense of direction is. Haha, oh boy. We don't have a GPS, so we've been using those things called maps. Ever heard of them? I've actually been getting pretty good at using them. Well, better than I had before. It's still a bit of a struggle to get anywhere though. Maybe I shouldn't have prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help us get to know the area better because that's exactly what's happening.
So I don't know how to get anywhere on the road, but I do know what path to take to get back to my Father in Heaven. And that's a map that so many people in this world do not have. I know that as we have faith, repent, are baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end, Heavenly Father will lead us in the direction which leads back to Him.
You're all the greatest!
Sister Sommers
Hola, hola Coca-Cola's!
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
So Long, Farewell...
This week was a HOLY MOLY KIND OF CRAZY WEEK!
For starters, I got my package! Yay! Thanks mom! :) The office got their package too! Both, Sister A--- and President Van Cott, called to tell me how awesome mom was. No one has ever done that for them. Way to go, mom!
Friday, I got to go on exchanges with my trainer, Sister P---! That was so fun to be with her on her last normal day of the mission and talk about old memories.
Alright, time to be a debby downer, now. Today we had to take Sister D--- to the airport. That's right, she had to go home for medical reasons. :( I just can't believe she made it to six months! She's a trooper. President Van Cott picked us all up to take her. That was kind of weird to be riding with President. Once we got there, President and Sister P--- took Sister D--- inside the airport, while I stayed in the front seat of the van BY MYSELF! That was totally weird. President would rather not have his van towed, I guess. Not only is she going home, but Sister P--- is leaving tomorrow, as well. She's all done with her mission. President told me I'm the first missionary to kill off two companions at the same time. Tomorrow, Sister P---, Sister W---, and Sister P--- will be flying home. That's all the rest of my companions! Man, I just keep killin' 'em all off!
I haven't met my new companion yet, but I hear she's really nice. I'm also senior companion, so that increases my stress level by a million. So there's that. Prayers would definitely be appreciated.
Alright, sorry this letter was so short, it's been a crazy day!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Sister Sommers
Friday, November 20, 2015
I'm So Excited and I Just Can't Hide it!
Wow, it has been a crazy, busy, exciting week!
First off, we had a Zone Meeting and a Zone Conference this week. We learned how we're gonna SET THIS MISSION ON FIRE! Spiritual fire, of course. The meetings really made me excited to be a missionary. Sometimes you just need that nice boost.
Wednesday, we were at Cal State, at our booth and it was SUPER windy. So windy that some of the pass along cards that were sitting on the table, flew right into my face! Do you know what it feels like to have the edge of about ten cards ripping your face to shreds? It doesn't feel very good. My companions were amused though because it looked like a scene from one of the Harry Potter movies. So basically, I'm a wizard in training.
I got a text from the AP's saying that my investigator, S---, from La Quinta was getting baptized! Woohoo! :) I would have LOVED to go back for her baptism, but it was right in the middle of Zone Conference. Laaaame! BUT she's baptized, so that's all that matters.
Guess who also got baptized. E---!!! Whoop, whoop! :) His baptism was yesterday, and quite interesting. It takes SIX HOURS to fill the stinking font, but we only got five hours to do it. That was not going to work because E---'s a tall guy. So the last couple of hours the font was filling, Sister P--- and I ran back and forth with a rolling cart and a huge bucket, trying to fill the font up a little more. Phew, that was exhausting, but I have to admit, it was also kinda fun. As E--- was getting baptized, he had to kneel down in the font while J--- dunked him. Haha, whatever it takes, I guess!
So yesterday was great, but also kinda sad. The Northpark YSA Ward Bishopric was released. Ugh, that was so sad. :( But I have a really good feeling about this new bishopric. We hear Bishop B--- and his wife like to "party hard". Yep, they're gonna do great with the YSA!
Today, Sister R--- (the wife of our now old Bishop) took us on the tram in Palm Springs. The tram is like this ski lift box thingamajig that can hold up to 80 people at a time. It's pretty sweet, looking at the quilt-like view from the top. We then went shopping in Palm Springs and the Cabazon Outlet Mall. Stores like Ann Taylor make me happy...but also sad because her stuff is all uber expensive and
whatnot.
Anyways, that was my week! Best wishes to you all during this coming week!
Sister Sommers
Sunday, November 15, 2015
That Party Was SICK!
This week was a little unproductive, so this is gonna be a super short letter because Tuesday morning, Sister P--- and I got hit really hard with the flu. We were fine all of Monday, but when Tuesday
morning rolled around, our bodies were like...WHAM! You just lost five pounds in one day! We stayed in all of Tuesday, and most of Wednesday and had a sick party. Sister D--- took great care of us though.
We felt pretty useless the rest of the week because we felt so dang loopy. Haha! The day we got sick, the news just spread like wildfire. All of the YSA found out by the end of the day. Our phone was blown up all day with get well texts, texts that they were all praying for us, and some of them even came by our apartment to give us some soup. One of our investigators, R---, even prayed for us. One thing you should know about R--- is that he has never prayed before. We felt super special that day.
And for more exciting news! Our investigator, E---, is getting baptized on Sunday! WHOOP, WHOOP! He was SO prepared! And for even MORE exciting news, our recent convert, J---, is baptizing him! :) That'll be a special experience for the both of them.
Well, that's all the interesting stuff that happened this week.
Have an awesomely, fantastical kind of week!
Sister Sommers
And for more exciting news! Our investigator, E---, is getting baptized on Sunday! WHOOP, WHOOP! He was SO prepared! And for even MORE exciting news, our recent convert, J---, is baptizing him! :) That'll be a special experience for the both of them.
Well, that's all the interesting stuff that happened this week.
Have an awesomely, fantastical kind of week!
Sister Sommers
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