Thanksgiving

The girl in the baptismal suit it Tempestt. She got baptized last week. The suburban is the border patrol. Thought you guys would like that picture. :) And then the table is the buffet of thanksgiving dinner. :) Hope you like them! Sorry I look so fat in the picture with Tempestt. I have actually lost 10lbs. since Los Lunas. Haha!

(To Julia)
Hmmm...Tyson is getting really old, I worry about him sometimes. But I hope things work out for him. And that's cool that Crystal got her endowments! Which temple did she get them out in? If you don't go on a mission soon will you think about getting yours out soon? I really do want to be there for that though. :) So you traveled the train by yourself? How long are you staying out there? Did Annie pick you up in Sacramento?
You know, sometimes I look at my life when I get back and all I see in the future is school and money. I really can't see myself doing anything else because I have done it for so long! Marriage just seems so far away for me. And honestly, I'm ok with that. I guess. I mean, I just want to get out of school and be able to start my career. I think then I will feel like I am not living in a box. I realy want to do the hands on counseling and stuff. I see so much and I am usually dead on with people's feelings concerning marriage and stuff. I have actually met a few people that tell me they want me to come back to help their marriage or their family. So I already have clients! Haha! :) The mission has really helped me to see that there is more to life than school. I just hope that I can remember what it's like to be in the real world. I think when you're in school it's hard to see what the real world is like. Oh well. Anyway! You will have to tell me how things are going out in Cali...oh wait, you're probably home by now...I'm a week behind, sorry. Tell me how Thanksgiving was! What are you doing for Christmas? I had 2 thanksgivings...one with the Bowdens who are really cool people and I love them to death! And the other was with a Samoan family, the Faimalo's, at the church. They had a buffet style dinner and a lot of music (which was really really hard for me to be there and not want to dance or sing) and the daughters did a dance for us. It was way fun! So ya, that was my thanksgiving. :) I'll talk to ya next week! It's transfers next week again, so I will let you know what happens next week! I love you!

Love
Sis Stolp

Not Much

Hey everybody!
So I am surviving El Paso and training! It's been pretty crazy though, we only have 1000 miles for our area...which is not near enough. BUT the ward is awesome and is helping us get around. So it's pretty nice. :)
Julia, when is your dance? And I want to see pictures for sure! That's cool that you got called to be a Sunday School teacher! I would not want that calling at all! Teaching families is hard enough for me! Just remember that you can only teach with the spirit, so pray to be guided in how/what you teach. Remember to love the people you teach, pray for those people in your class. I know that you will be an awesome teacher though! And stay away from the opinion corner! That's danger. Just stick to the doctrine and you will be fine. :)
So wait, which next door neighbor? I don't remember a Shannon. Is it the one with the 2 boys and the motorcycle? Her name is Heidi and she's a member right? Have they had the missionaries over? Do they have a Book of Mormon? I think that one day he will accept the gospel. They say it takes 7 tries. So maybe yours was the 6th. You definitely planted the seed! But as long as they feel your love for them and the kindness and unity that they church has, they will probably be looking for it again one day.
It's always good to hear how Allen is doing. I love him to death! I hope he knows how much I miss him. How is Helen doing?
I am sick right now. I have a cold or something. I am really tired, but I just have to keep pushing! It's hard though, because no one wants a sick person in their home getting their kids sick. So it's always hard to know what to do. Can you please send me some money for meds? I know I'm going to spend all I have on drugs if I'm not careful.
So before I forget, we are having Thanksgiving with a polynesian family! They have 8 kids and I'm so excited! It will be like home! I'm so excited! So for Christmas, tell me a time you want me to call you. It has to be after 10am and before 8pm. So I'm thinking like around 10 or 11am? Tell me when it will work out for you guys.
I'll write to you later today! I love you all!


Love
Sister Stolp

El Paso

Yes, I am training again for my 3rd time. I started training in June, then had about 5 weeks of not training (almost a whole transfer), then I trained Sister Hiatt, and now I'm training Sister Bode (Bow-dee). She's awesome! She's from Indiana, and is a convert of a year and a half! So she's perfect in her teaching because she knows exactly what it's like to be on the other side of things. So it's awesome! I am in El Paso right now, and I LOVE IT! Juarez, Mexico is right next door, so it's a little scary. While we were driving up on the freeway to the meeting point in El Paso we could look to the right and see Mexico and on the left was the US. We never left the US but it was weird looking at another country...I'm just glad I didn't see any dead bodies or shootings in my brief passing...
We live with a member, she is so sweet! She is divorced and has one daughter. They take very good care of us. :)
Yesterday at church there was a talk on tithing and how if you pay your tithing you WILL be blessed. There was a quote that I liked so much that I had to write down. It says "You will never get out of debt until you pay the Lord first." It made me think of all of your guys different situations, and I was wondering if you all paid tithing. I don't know why, but I felt very impressed to ask all of you this question. And if you are not paying your tithing, you better start now and ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness. I know that if you all pay your tithing then Heavenly Father WILL bless you! Brenda, that's awesome about the garden, for some reason I felt so much joy when I heard that the garage looked like the produce isle. I know from your efforts, you will not go hungry. Dad, I'm really sorry to hear that things are so tight. I really don't want anything for Christmas, you sacrifice so much for me already, so I don't want you to have to worry about me for Christmas. And besides, I have everything that I need already. I have learned how to live within my means, and I'm very happy.
Elder Zivic asked us to do a 40 day fast, not from food or water, but of things that poke at our spirits. I wrote a list of things that I have not been able to conquer:

Slang
Bedtime (I am always a few minutes late)
Fear God more than my leaders -
-how does God look @ me?
-am I doing this work for God or someone else?
Checking out the boys (my hardest one to conquer!)
-Keep my focus on God
-Keep my focus of the work
Don't get caught up with elder stupidity. Worry about my own work
Don't get caught up with transfer news
Always be within sight and sound of my companion (sometimes I don't worry about that as much as I should)
Be professional with the members -
-don't get to casual

I'm sure I have a ton more things that I need to work on, but that is my list. When I wrote that list I felt so much guilt and basically all the pain of my sins. I fasted yesterday for Heavenly Father to help me with these things. So I have to work on these things for 40 days. I know I'm going to mess up (especially the slang one) all day everyday, but Heavenly Father will help me I know it! When you train you really see how inadequate you are. I sometimes feel very unworthy to be a missionary. Especially after I wrote this list. I just don't see how a new missionary can learn from me about being a good missionary when I slack on so many things. But president wrote me and told me that it was very clear that I was supposed to be with Sister Bode. :) That does make me feel better to know that Heavenly Father trusts me enough with a new missionary.
So when we got here, there was no area book for us, no old teaching records, no ward list, no nothing. We really did start from scratch! The elders that we share the ward with gave us a few teaching records of former investigators, and we actually had the area book for a day, but only to get our area out of their book. We had to go get a binder and print a map for us. So ya, it's been fun. We actually have one investigator at the moment. Her name is Tempest (cool huh?), and she will be getting baptized on Nov. 20th. But we really want her family to be involved, so we might postpone it if her family is not helping with her commitments. So anyway! We will see what happens.
Annie, we did go to the Halloween party at the church, it was a trunk or treat. We all dressed up as fairies, we were so cute! I will send a picture of it. And I got my truck! YAY! We handed out pass along cards with a dum dum taped to it and told the kids they could have the sucker, but give the card to a friend. It was awesome!
I really want to go sing in the choir, but I think we have to have an investigator there. But I will see what I can do. Practice is at 5pm, which cuts into dinner and time when people will be home, so it's a little hard to say yes to something like that. But I wish I could! The choir director here in the Redd ward is intense, he's like a professor at the college or something. He looks like Jackie Chan. Haha!
I am having more training meetings this week, YAY! And I'm so excited! I get so pumped when I get the training! :)
That's too bad that your camera got stolen! Who stole it? I'm glad to hear that the kids are doing great with their plays. So Val doesn't like Tyler. Is it because he has a girlfriend? :) And the Hepworth girl got married huh? Who did she marry? And who was this Bryan that you were talking about? His mom was dating someone? Or something like that?
Well, I should get going. I have to write president now. But I guess this is my weekly letter. I just get to excited when I get emails! I have to answer them right away! It's easier to type than to write anyway. Take care everyone. I love you all!

Love
Sister Stolp