SNOWWWW!! Goose poop...goose poop EVERYWHERE! (12/23/13)

This week was CRAZY!

We found 7 new investigators! Some of them aren't too solid, but still that's pretty awesome :D

We also taught Jane and she decided that she wants to be baptized on January 11th, 2014.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WE ARE SETTING DATES FOR 2014!!! That's INSANE!

So yeah. On Thursday night we got a call from the Vernon 1st sisters asking if they could stay with us because they were driving all the way to Vernon. So we said yes, of course. Then on Friday, we wake up and there's TONS OF SNOW!  They couldn't leave, so they stayed with us another night and then left on Saturday. It was fun hanging out with them and working with them.

 

 



 

 

It's like a bad prom picture, hahaha



We found one of our investigators one night...he answered the door only in boxers and told us to come back the next day. So we did, and he ended up being so HILARIOUS! His friend was at his house and became a new investigator as well! They love the fact that I'm from Texas and they love country music and going salmon fishing. THEY GAVE US FRESH SALMON FOR FREE! It was awesome. I marinated it with soy sauce and brown sugar and baked it. IT WAS SO GOOD! I loved it. Sister Dockstader even ate some and she hates fish.

So I'm feeling better. We think that the source of the bathroom smell might be from the fan in the bathroom. Weird stuff.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! WRITE ME LETTERS! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Sincerely,
Sister Struempler

Merry almost Christmas!! (12/16/13)

Another week in Canada and I was SO SICK. It was horrible. Being sick at home is fine because you can miss school...watch tv...eat food...read books...be lazy. Not on a mission. My motto for this week was "work when I can, sleep when I need to." I think I was going stir crazy because all I could do was read the scriptures and sleep and do missionary work if I was feeling up to it.

THANK GOODNESS for the priesthood because I was able to get a blessing on Sunday so hopefully I will be better this week.

So between feeling horrible/nauseous/dizzy/sneezey/all the gross things, we were able to get some things done!

 

We went tracting and found some new investigators! It's fun going tracting and knocking doors this time of year because we get to admire all the pretty Christmas lights. And if people yell at us we just look at the Christmas lights and then feel better.

 

We are meeting with this lady who used to be a heroine addict but has now turned her life around, has been sober for 3 years, and has a baby! She is the GREATEST PERSON and I love her so much. She has horrible anxiety and hasn't been able to make it to church yet...hopefully one day she will! I love meeting so many awesome people. That is one of the most fun things about being on a mission!

We had two investigators come to church! One is the son of a recent convert, and he says that he wants to be baptized which is awesome! And the other one is the mom of a less active who is now coming to church again because he got a new job, so he doesn't have to work on Sundays. She's a little hesitant because her husband doesn't speak English (only Chinese) so he doesn't want to go to church with her. Please pray for Jane so that she'll want to be baptized and come to church with her son!!!

This morning was interesting because we woke up and it smelled like something DIED in our apartment. We tried to locate the source of the smell and thought it was under the sink in the bathroom. We CLEANED the bathroom so well, but the source of the smell is yet to be determined. Hopefully we will figure it out this week because I don't know how much longer I can handle the smell. I'll keep y'all updated.

 

Sister Kennedy! She has been out for 9 months now! I went on an exchange with her. Well, she came to Chilliwack from Abbotsford for the day.

This week I was able to read about Christmas in America. It starts in 3 Nephi 1 in verse 4. It's fun to read because it's so different than the normal Christmas story in Luke! I hope that we can all remember the REAL reason that we celebrate Christmas. Christ was able to give us the greatest gift of all...the atonement! So that we can all return to live with our families and our Heavenly Father again. It's such a wonderful blessing and I love sharing this message with people, especially at this time of the year!

Write me letters! I love you all! Merry almost Christmas!

 

Sister Struempler

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him! (12/9/13)

So this week was Stake Conference and the Christmas Devotional! It was so fun! I can't wait for Christmas! I love this time of year because people are more willing to listen to our message of hope and peace that we share about Christmas and Christ's birth!

 

Here are some funny Christmas pictures my comp and I decided to take:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways . . .  

 

This week we made baskets for people in the ward and delivered them to people. We also went tracting a lot, because a lot of people say they're too busy right now to meet with us . . . meh. And we found some pretty cool people to teach!

 

We are also now teaching this boy who is the son of a recent convert! Her daughter got baptized first, and then she got baptized when she moved from DALLAS to here, Chilliwack. And now the son Andrew wants to be baptized. He doesn't know when yet, but it's just so cool! If one person in the family finds the truth then it just spreads like wildfire.

 

We also taught this awesome lady who we met on the street named Chealsea. Her husband is a long distance truck driver so she is home alone with her two kids a lot. She wants her sons to have good morals because she was a rebellious child. Ha ha ha . . . whatever that means!

 

I just love seeing how this gospel changes people's lives! When we asked Andrew how his mom changed when she got baptized he said that she is A LOT more patient now. Pretty funny, hey?

 

And it snowed today which was so fun! It's been super windy and cold the past few days so it was a nice change.

 

ERMEGERSH, SNER!

 

 

We also had stake conference this weekend and Elder Call of the 70 came and talked about how we all have trials. We should expect to go through trials, because if we don't then we won't grow! It was such an eye opener because people sometimes think that this gospel will protect them from hard times. But we ALL NEED trials so that we can grow stronger and become better people! see Helaman 5:12

 

I hope that you are all having a wonderful December! Please write me letters! I really appreciate it :)

 

Sister Struempler

 

 

 

 

I can see Mt. Baker from here! (12/3/13)

Please write me letters! I've only gotten 1 so far :(

 

So, Chilliwack is making me homesick. It's SO MUCH like Washington except more farming, so it kinda stinks sometimes, but that's okay!

This week is going to be short because I don't have much time since we went to the temple today! YAYYYY!!

 

 

It was wonderful. I love the temple.

 

Going in there reminded me of why I am a missionary. I'm here to help people get to the point where they can make covenants with Heavenly Father which will help them eternally! Pretty cool, hey?

 

So this week has been insane. We went to a musical that the stake was putting on which had a lot of songs from Handel's Messiah. It was WONDERFUL! I am so excited for Christmas...I just like the Christmas season.

We were able to have some return appointments with the investigators that we've been finding. That was fun! We met this crazy man named Rick who got in a logging accident, so he doesn't remember anything from his teenage/childhood years. He calls us like every day. It's kinda weird, but I just think that he thinks of us as good friends, but whatever - hahahaha.

Sister Dockstader saw snow for the 2nd time in her whole life.

 

 

It was snowing but it didn't stick at all. It melted as it hit the ground, but she enjoyed it.

We baked like 120+ cookies for investigators and less actives! That was really fun. Sister Dockstader kept getting mad at me because I kept eating the dough. It was so good!!

So I'm officially not vegetarian anymore. I've decided. Here is proof:

 

 

It's just too hard to be vegetarian. And expensive hahaha yeah.

The work is going great! We are finding a lot of people. It's just hard when they don't keep commitments, but they do have their agency. I wish you all a wonderful December! I can't believe it's December already! CRAZYNESS!

Here are some more pics:

 

 

 

Sister Struempler