Leda's Address

4400 Presidential Dr.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
87109

1st Nephi 3:7

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

"Kick Tush"

We just went through transfers again, we are staying another transfer together!!! Yay! We are excited. I do not have anything really to say about this week. It was a really bad week, but Sister Jarman, (the sister who got bit by the dog) is in ABQ right now and is doing much better. She still has the infection, but no fever. Thank goodness! They actually shut Anthony down for sisters, there's been to many problems with that area. I'm not surprised, but it is a little sad. There are no more other sisters in the zone! :( Our district split also, it is now only 4 elders and us sisters. So it is a little small, but I prefer it that way. The AP (Elder Ellsworth) got released from AP and is now my district leader! Yay! There is going to be so much obedience in my district and I'm so happy! :) This is my 3rd transfer here in El Paso and I love it! I was in Gallup for 3 transfers also, my 2 favorite places are the places I will be in the longest. I'm so happy! We are still sharing the ward with the elders...it's going ok. It's definitely not my favorite, but we work ok together. All the missionaries in the ward now are younger than me, so it's a little rough to be around somewhat inexperienced missionaries. Sister Bode is awesome though! We are going to kick tush here this transfer! We have a "Why I Believe" fireside in the making right now, and we are going to do a tree of life in the church for people to experience. Elder Gibson (the elder here) is training his 1st this next transfer. And Elder Ellsworth is training also, so it will be an interesting transfer/district.
How is everyone doing so far? Have you all made a profile on mormon.org yet? If you haven't done it yet, you better do it this week! It sounds like Julia had a great time in Cali. How long did you stay in Cali and Utah? Annie, you better watch Vanessa and her getting really cold. That is very dangerous. Yesterday it was 70 degrees in El Paso, and even I was wearing a sweater! Anyway! I have to get going. But we will talk later....love you!
 
Love, Sister Stolp

Monday, January 10, 2011

Christmas Card

(Note from the editor: Sorry this is so late, I had to scan it.)

Ouch!

Hey everybody! So my week has been kind of weird. Ok, so first of all Sis Bode has had a sinus infection for the past month or so, so we were in for a few days around New Years, which was ok, but she was bound and determined to be fine by Wednesday for our trip to Albuquerque for the sisters meeting. So Wednesday morning we drove up to ABQ for the sisters meeting. It was amazing! The drive was long, but it was beautiful, and I got to see Los Lunas again! That was interesting. So anyway, we stopped by the office to drop some things off and to pick up a few things. We got some really really cool mormon.org cards...you guys have to get on and create a profile! It's an awesome website! Infact, I got on and I saw Vance Taylors profile! He has 2 kids and works in DC for homeland security. His life is just amazing. It was awesome to see where he's at in life. So anyway....while we were at the office I saw the stake president for the Los Lunas stake, that was really cool to talk to him a bit. Then we went to Presidents house and had the training. Those meetings are bitter sweet, I love them because it helps me see what I can improve on, but then I can see ALL my faults and it makes me feel really bad. But it was good. :) It was really fun to see all my old companions and all the other sisters that I have served around. So then we had to drive home, we stopped in Los Lunas for dinner, which was really hard because Cassandra (a RC of mine) lives right down the street from where I was! :( But I was good and didn't go to see her. So we got home about 9:30ish (we got up at 5am), so it was pretty much a full day of driving (9 hours). So the next day we worked and stuff, but that night I felt really sick. The past 2 days I was fighting it, but Thursday night I was aching and I was hot and my stomach didn't feel good. So I took my temperature, it was 99.6 (maybe, the thermometer was being stupid), so we stayed in for about 2 days, but I went out every once in a while. But I feel fine now. :) But these past few weeks have been a battle with our health. Hopefully we got it all out and will be fine for the rest of forever. So then we went to church, had a great time, etc...and at dinner we got a call from Sister Miller, so we answered it (we usually don't answer it if we are dinner) and she said that the spanish sister, Sister Jarman was bit by a dog on Saturday night and had to get 11 and 5 stitches, and she was afraid that Sister Jarman would have to go to the hospital again that night (it was bleeding a bit still). So anyway. After dinner we had a lesson with some less active kids, and then went to assess (?) the situation to see what we needed to do. Like if they needed to stay with us that night or if she needed to go to the hospital. So we got there, and there was blood on her very thick bandage, and she was pale and her hands were white and cold but her body was hot. We saw some pictures of her leg before it got stitched up...it was a pretty good gash. It didn't go to the bone, but I wouldn't doubt that it was close. She was on some pretty strong meds too, she was on antibiotics and hydrocodone.... So they started telling us the story, and how she didn't listen to her companion and that is why she got bit by the dog. So she started feeling guilty and started to cry. She couldn't calm down and started to shake and feel sick. We called Sister Miller to find out what to do, we wanted to take her to the hospital, but they called a doctor and said that she was ok. So we tried calling the hospital and ask them a few questions, but they put me on hold but never came back to me. So we prayed about what to do, and the feeling was so strong to take her to the hospital (I also had a feeling that she might be allergic to the meds). So we decided to take her to the hospital in Las Cruces (where she went the night before) which was about 1/2 hour away. We pretty much told President and Sister Miller that we were taking her to the hospital because we felt that we needed too, and they said that they had prayed also, and they had gotten the same feeling. So as we were driving she started convulsing and wanted to go to sleep. So we kept her talking, but she couldn't remember a lot of things, like what her brothers names were. She was sweating really bad, and yet was cold. She said that her leg hurt, and then after a while, she said that she couldn't feel pain. I don't know what was going on, but all I knew was that the Spirit told us to take her to the hospital. So we finally got there a 100 hours later. They took her into the back and pretty much asked her why she was there. I was like are you kinding me?!? But finally she calmed down and stopped convulsing and shaking, and she finally started to talk sense. We were discussing what could have caused her to have that attack, and we though 2 things, she is allergic to the meds, or she took to many. So the doctor finally came in and said that her leg looked really good, and that she shouldn't worry about it bleeding a lot, that is what gets the germs out. I asked if she could be allergic, and he said no, but that she took to much meds. She barely weights a 100lbs, and she took 2 pills of the hydrocodone every 4 hours a couple of times, so she just had to much in her system. Shoof! So they dressed the wound again, and sent her on her way. We got home at 2am last night...it was a long night. Sister Bode and I talked about how we were glad we followed the Spirit. Nothing major happened, good or wrong, but we were glad we did what we were told. And we are glad that we did not find out what would have happened if we didn't listen! Sister Jarman is doing good now, she is only taking one pill at a time, hopefully every 6 hours apart. But we are going to check on her tonight to see how she is doing.
Anyway! That was the craziest part of my week! I will send pictures in my next email for you to see. I don't have the pictures of it open, but these ones are from last night. I love you all!
 








Love Sister Stolp

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Angie

Hey Annie! I love getting emails from you! What have you been up to other than getting fat and being lazy? :) I have lost almost all my mission weight...5 more pounds to go and then I'm back to where I was! Yay!


So let me tell you about Angie. It was a few days after we got here that I had to go to a training meeting and Sister Bode had to go with 3 other sisters during the day. So while I was in training she tracted this one street with the other sisters, and found Angie. SIster Bode gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet (by mistake? I think not) and set up a return appointment. So we went back and taught about the plan. She grew up Jehovah's Witness, and they don't believe that everyone will make it to heaven, and a bunch of other stuff. So she liked how we thought, and it made sense to her, and it actually gave her hope for her and her family. She has a husband, Jason, and a daughter, Jasmine who is 2. So we taught her about 3 times a week and she just kept amazing us all the time! We would teach her, and she would totally think outside of the box...we always walked out and talked about how she would be general RS president in about 6 years. She just knows things and sees things that most people do not catch. It was just amazing to teach her! We set her baptism for Dec 18, 6 weeks after we found her. But then we felt that she was ready way before that, so we bumped it to Dec 4, 4 weeks after we found her. And it actually turned our perfect because the guy who baptized her was going to be out of town, and Angies husband was going to be gone (he's in the military). But she progressed so fast and so well, I was just amazed! She doesn't like the JW church, and was ready to find the truth. She loves us coming over and she actually crocheted us bears for Christmas! They are so cute! I will show you them when I get home. So that is Angies story! We love her to death and we will be sad when we leave. But she is definitely like our sister.

How is it going at the Stolps house? Dawn actually sent me a Christmas present, I was a little surprised, but I was happy. It was a bath soap kit, which I dont' take bathes, but the thought is what counts. Oh man I had some good enchilada's the other day! Wow! The tortillas were dipped in a chili sauce that she made herself and then the tortillas were fried and then she put chicken and onion (she soaked the onions in apple cider vineager, yum!!!!) in it and rolled it up. Oh man, they were to die for! Best ever! Sister Bode of course put cheese and sour cream on hers. Man they were yummy!

Ok, I think that is it! I love you! Send me pictures of your beautiful daughters!



Love

Sister Stolp

Wheat

Hey everybody, I got stamps today, but I may not have time to write you all a letter because I'm going to get new shoes today! The lady that called you guys (Sister Betty Bowden from El Paso Redd ward) is buying us new shoes! She told us that yesterday at church, and I said that I really do need new shoes, and she said it showed. :( So I'm glad that I will be getting better shoes that will last me till the end of my mission! :) So this week my companion Sister Bode has been sick with a sinus infection, so we have been in almost all week. It has been really fun though! We played a ton of games with Sister Stiger (the lady we live with), and I love the game Rummikub. If you haven't played it, you should. And Sister Bode got Bananagrams (like Scrabble), so we have been stretching our brains all week! We have gotten really close to Sister Stiger this past week, yesterday she was gone to her family finner, so we were all by ourselves yesterday and we were both lonely! It was sad! We love her. :) She is allergic to wheat (Celiac disease) and I was telling her all of my problems (prediabetes, raynouds, Diane's kids and their celiac problems, Grandma Ostlers allergies, my allergies, etc...) and she said that I am most definitely have Celiac disease. So I am going off wheat as of yesterday. :( :( :( I don't think I will starve though, we are fed quit a bit of tacos and soups. :) Anyway. Maybe you can give me some tips Brenda? I think you are allergic to wheat, huh? I got me some rice crackers and a bunch of fruit and a gluten-free pancake mix...it was $4.12! :( I might starve during the day though. They didn't have any snacks, except the rice crackers. But I don't know if they are good. And I think the granola bars and the fruit snacks have wheat in them, I will have to ask Sister Stiger about those. Anyway, maybe you can help me find some good snacks to munch on during the day. I dont' have a whole lot of time to look at all the grocery stores out here, and I bet you could find gluten-free foods for cheap too. I think that's your talent. :)


But that is the gist of our week. All the elders have been sick too, so not too much has happened in our district. We have a bunch of potential investigators so we are hoping that Sister Bode will get better soon so that we can go teach them! Halleluia! (sorry, there was a guy that came to church with the elders yesterday and he looked like a holy roller type guy)

I hope you guys have a great week! I love you all!



Love

Sister Stolp