Monday, June 8, 2015

Guess Where I Am??!?!?!?!

No seriously

 Guess

 GUESS
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NO PEEKING
I WANT YOU TO GUESS
AND MOM AND DAD YOU GOT A HINT ON SUNDAY (thanks to the Amary family :p) SO DON'T GIVE IT AWAY
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Wait but first

while you're guessing

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!!!!!!!!!

 I've said it before and I'll say it again. I have the best Mom in the world and everyone should be jealous. Thanks for being patient with me and for loving me and taking care of me. Thanks for being involved and unbelievably invested in my life and education and for writing me on my mission, even with a painful arm and frustrating voice-to-text technology. I love you so much, and I'm excited to see you again in October and help out more and play violin with you.
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alright, are you ready? Got your guesses?? I haven't served very many places in the mission yet, so it could be anywhere.

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ready?
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Phoenix.

South Phoenix.

YMA O HYD 

Still in the same zone I've been in since July

 Still in the same ward I've been in since November

 Still with Sister Williams (WOOOOOOOO HOOO)
 
 And I'm actually at the same library with the same computers that I used last year to write home and say, "I'm in Laveen and I love it!" So that's crazy.

 This transfer I will celebrate a year in South Phoenix. July 2nd. I'm actually really excited, I don't think I've ever met a missionary who could celebrate a year mark in one place. To answer your question, Dad, I don't know the record for staying in one area or one zone. I'll have to ask. But I do remember being pretty smug when I passed up this one elder. He'd been in the zone for 7 1/2 months. I do know that there was one sister in Laveen that served in that ward for a full 9 months. I definitely hold the record for this zone.

I'm so very, very bummed that my email home last week got nuked for some stinky reason. So stink. But honestly, I was so certain I was leaving because I'd been there so long, there was just no way I was staying. So it was kinda a "I'm going to miss Phoenix so much" "I love this place" "I never want to leave" (I'm never EVER going to leave!!!! >:D), so maybe it was God's way of telling me I was not going to leave until I finish....whatever I'm still here to do. XD or learn whatever I haven't learned yet. Probably both. 

 I did want to rewrite one thing I wrote, though. Last week was our stake conference. It was so fun to be there, because I've served in 3 wards in the whole stake, and served long enough to get close with a lot of the people there. Near the end, the speaker had all the missionaries in the stake (all like 36 of us) line up in front of everyone. He did a fun little thing, asked some of us questions and commented on our answers. It was whatever. But we stayed up there to sing hte closing hymn with the whole congregation. The closing hymn was "Called to Serve." I know both verses to that hymn (and the first verse in Spanish) by heart. It is near and dear to every missionary. And while we were up there singing that song, I was looking out at all the people I've served for the past year. Some of them I had helped baptize. Some I had helped come back to church and find their faith again. Some were active members who had come out on visits with us, and we had had some amazing spiritual miracles experiences together. I'd helped quite a few of them. All of them had touched my life so deeply, my life will never be the same ever again because I had met them and loved them. I remembered how I had felt God's love for all of them too, and had seen them have such profound experiences with their Savior and his Atoning sacrifice. I was also certain I was leaving them and wouldn't be coming back to Phoenix for a while. So I tried to stand up there and sing "Called to Serve" with them, but I was mostly just crying. It was a very special experience, and definitely one I will never forget. 

 Another really fun experience, so the church building in Laveen had some mechanical issues, and they couldn't have church there. Sooooo they came to have church with our ward!!! :D :D :D It was SO SO FUN To have both both wards there!! I loved everyone so much, and it was fun for them because they used to be the same ward like 5 years ago, so it was like a really fun reunion. The testimonies were really fun, too, seeing members from both wards getting up to bear testimony.

 Alright, running out of time, because I've gone on too much about how excited I am to still be here and how much I love this place. But, one miracle I want to share!!

 So, remember Stacy? I think that's what I called her. Anyway, the family that we were tyring to deliver the Bible to, and the young mom said, "I think I want to join your church." We've been trying to contact her for forever, but she totally disappeared. Every now and again we'll see her, and she'll say "yeah, still reading the Book of Mormon, and I really like it," but doesn't have time to sit down and talk more about it and all of our set appointments with her fall through. A while back she said she wasn't sure if she wanted to join anymore and just had to think about it more, which we were totally fine with. We're here for her, not to get another baptism under our belt. Well, we were able to see her again and we asked her how praying was going and her relationship with God, and she said, "I'm so grateful you guys keep trying. Whenever I get nervous about talking with you guys, I feel God tell me that He loves me. He tells me that I don't have to be Mormon to have His love, but He wants me to listen. Can we start meeting again?" 

 The best part about being a missionary is seeing people build their relationship with God. It's what we're here for, it's our whole purpose. So when they feel God starting to speak to them and that bond between them starts to form, that the best part. 

 I have way more to share, but I love you guys so much!! Thanks for the prayers and support! I miss you all!!

 -Sister Stratford

 (p.s. after this email, you're only going to get 17 more emails before I come home. Is that crazy or what? I only have 17 p-days left. Mm, not thinking about it. ^^ haha)

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