Let's talk about the weather

Hello Friends! Another good week in El Dorado Hills!

Tuesday we went to get our brakes checked because they have been making this awful screeching  noise for months. Turns out everything is fine and they just sound freaky. Least now we know it's  safe! We were driving around Serrano (the gated community that is almost all of Silva Valley Ward) going to visit people and as we were at a stop sign about to turn we saw one of the Serrano security cars drive past. I just got a glimpse of the driver and suddenly I turn to Sister Erickson, "Was that Brother Bianchini?!?" He was our Ward mission leader in Elk Grove. Of course we both had him as WML at separate times but we have both served there so we both know him. So what did we do? We chased him down in our car. We followed him a little ways and kept waving out the window until he pulled over. At this point I am pretty much praying it really is him because it would be kind of bad if we just followed a regular security officer waving like crazies. Fortunately, it was him. Haha we laughed so hard. It was fun to chat with him for a minute. Good thing it was him because otherwise we would have been severely chastised by the spirit, "in all ways be dignified and mature in your conduct." Well...maybe it's ok to be a little immature in extenuating circumstances? We couldn't just
let him drive away!

Wednesday we did some super fun service. We went to a senior center and they have appointments that senior citizens sign up to come and receive help using their technology. So they just come in and for an hour we help them. It was so fun. I had an hour with a lady named Sherry. She was 70 and SO cute. I don't know that much about technology but she didn't know how to use her iPhone so I showed her some stuff. Like how to close apps so they aren't running and draining your battery. She got SO excited when she did it right. It was really so fun. You can just tell they feel so empowered and it is
so easy to show them how. It's seriously adorable.

Thursday we had service set up that canceled last minute, so we asked if we could go back to the   members who were working on baseboards. We finished! That was super exciting. They will have baseboards now and their house will look so much more complete. We had dinner and a lesson with the Bagley's also; that was cool. I mentioned Berit Bagley before, she is the only non member in their family. She is super cool and we had a great time with their family. Hopefully she will at some point want to take the lessons. We shared about the Book of Mormon so praying she will read it.

Friday we had Zone Training on the Book of Mormon and how it is our most powerful tool in conversion. It's one of my favorite things to talk about. Probably what I am most passionate about, since even before my mission. That book is the reason I know that this is Christ's church, and that Christ is my Savior. Reading it is how I first gained a testimony. I know it is scripture, and that it is
inspired of God. As part of Zone Training we did role plays so Sister Erickson and I taught Sister Limb, who was pretending to be Nicole. The high councilor over missionary work in the Folsom stake comes to our meetings (which is awesome! And he is super awesome) so he sat in on our role play which definitely made us both a little nervous. It went pretty well, he had a couple of  suggestions which I was happy for because I really respect his opinion. Then he said he would let us
teach any of his friends, and that he doesn't say that to everyone. Probably one of the nicest  compliments I have ever received. Earnest compliments are a blessing; I need to be better at uplifting people with sincere compliments. Janelle canceled her lesson with us, which was really sad. She had some family issues that were causing problems. We went and got her some chocolate since we know she loves it and left it on her doorstep with a note and a reference to Moroni 7:41. What is it that we shall hope for? Eternal life, through Jesus Christ. All hope comes through Him and He is the source to turn to when times are tough. We also had dinner with the Frye's (another part member family) and had a good discussion about the Book of Mormon with them. Brother Frye (the non member) didn't  ask us any crazy hard questions this time. Probably because we expected it this time haha.

Saturday was kind of a crazy day. We had service that canceled again, so we went over to a member that lives near us and just moved and she was just gearing up to mud her walls. Not a coincidence! I love when that happens-that you can see things worked out exactly perfect, even though it wasn't according to plan. So we helped her mud her walls (another remodeling skill I can now add to my arsenal). We took a little longer than planned and had to get home to go on a mini exchange with the sister training leaders. We quickly changed and then got ready to go. When they found out we hadn't eaten yet they were really nice and went out and worked in our area while we had lunch first, then we exchanged and both went out. We knocked a bunch of doors with no answer, then needed to use the bathroom so we went to a members house. Across the street were some more members so we went
over to follow up with them on someone that came to church with them recently. We ended up  spending the rest of the time with her discussing two referrals she had. One for us and one that will go to other missionaries. It was awesome, she is such a great member missionary. After that Sister Erickson and I got back together, but we kept Sister Limb because her companion had a baptism to go to. The weather has been dreadful-windy and rainy (I know, it could be Utah and it would be a blizzard). All in all it was a lot of running and changing plans all day, but some good results came out of it! We also heard from Janelle. We texted to confirm her plans to attend church tomorrow and she said her daughter is sick so they won't be coming, however we set up a time on Sunday to go visit her with the member that referred her to us. Hopefully she will feel the spirit and be comforted.

Sunday was cool because in both Relief Society lessons I felt inspired to do things. In the first Relief Society lesson we talked about Easter and how we should make it at least as meaningful of a season as Christmas since it is about the Atonement. That made me realize that with the new initiative the church will be putting out very soon for Easter (#hallelujah, it's gonna be big) I should be going all out to help people feel of the spirit of Easter as a sacred event in history. So I got some ideas for how I could make extra proselyting efforts to share the gospel more effectively at this special time of year. Right after the meeting Sister Erickson and I talked about some of our ideas. A similar thing on a different topic happened after the second Relief Society meeting. Then I had this moment that I  realized that is how revelation is supposed to work. We receive ideas for something we should DO and then we do it. Pretty simple, but I just thought it was cool to realize that I was actually doing it. At the end of the night we had a lesson with some members that have a record player that actually works. It was the coolest thing ever. I felt like I was in a movie.

Today we went to Target and I found a million cute things for one dollar. I have decided that everything I ever want I can find at Target. They should have me advertise for them. Mostly I got  sticky notes. I am such a sister missionary. Zone conference is this coming week so I am excited about that! Have a great week! Love you all! Happy Homecoming to Mom and Dad!

Sister Robinson