Obi Wan Kanobi with her first Tamale.

Hi family and friends! Yet another wonderful week has come and gone. Time is flying and transfers are about here (Oct.21), which is CRAZY. I am so anxious to hear what will be going on!

Sneak peek into OC 4th ward! We are getting a second set of missionaries, we will have a set of elders to help us in the work. We (Sis. Stone, the ward and myself) are all SO excited. Big, big things are coming. Obviously big enough things that we need MORE MISSIONARIES! We are so thrilled to be apart of this wonderful time.

MONDAY

Monday was a wondrous p-day! I had the best time ever talking back and forth with my mom, dad AND Addey. It was basically the most wonderful thing that happened that day! I loved being able to hear from all of you and have enough time to write you back instantly. I promise, I am trying to write ALL of you back as quickly as I can, but I am so stinkin' busy! It is a work in progress though.

After p-day we had dinner with the Johnson Family. They are so fun! They have two little girls that are just the cutest things! So, we show up to dinner and we see our potential investigator's children! Slightly confused, but we start to chat with them. Then, our potential investigator, Esther, whom we have NOT been able to contact in about 2 months, shows up for dinner! Her and Sis. Johnson have become pretty good friends and do things together and help each other out quite a bit (insert testimony on fellowship, AGAIN). It was wonderful! By the end of dinner, Esther invited us over to her home for dinner and told us she is still interested in learning more. Yay!

(The Johnson's and their rat, Duke)

Straight from dinner we went to the Conner's home for FHE again. They have allowed us to use their home to do a FHE for our investigators every week. It is so wonderful and envelops Jennifer, Yahir and Alondra SO nicely! Kerr Families, (Sky and Whitney too!), offer this to your missionaries. They will love you forever and ever and you will provide instant fellowship to those they are teaching! Do it, please! And tell me how it goes. At this FHE, I was talking to Yahir and I said, "Hey, Yahir, say 'Kerr'" and I sounded it out for him. He repeated it back perfectly! Then I said, "ok, that's my last name!" He says ok and continues on doing what he was. 2 minutes later I hear him yell, "Sister Keeeer." I love it too much to ever correct him again :)

TUESDAY

Tuesday we had a lesson with our investigator Sharon. It went so well and Bro and Sis Carlson are getting a lot more comfortable with sitting in on lessons with us! We talked to her about baptism and were able to hear her experiences with prayer. She had a dream about the church right after she had prayed about whether she should be baptized, and she said she knows that is her answer! She then asked us, "Can I just read more of the Book of Mormon before I get baptized?" OF COURSE YOU CAN. It is so amazing to have an investigator who has that true desire to read, ask and then know! Just like Moroni's promise in the BoM, Sharon is a wonderful example of following through on his promise.

Later, we went over and had another game night with the little boy who thinks I am a Jedi. This time he was able to pin it down to what Jedi's I am. Apparently I look just like Obi Wan Kanobi and Manny combined! Hahah, it was so funny and we were able to figure out that it is because I wear my hair in a ponytail. Silly kid.

We went over to Alondra and Yahir's to talk about baptism and see where they are standing with that. Originally, the goal was to have them all baptized together, but Miriam (the mom) is still struggling with smoking, so we had the intentions of going in and telling her that it is the best for her children to continually be held back from baptism. We go in and sit down, and before we say anything, Miriam basically repeats to us what we had planned to say to her. It was really incredible and Yahir is so excited for his baptism, which will be on the 19th! Alondra still doesn't feel like she is ready. I know that she is, but I think she is nervous about leaving her mom behind. They have a really close bond and I can see myself doing the same thing in her situation. I know they will ALL be baptized, it is just a matter of time!

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday we had a lesson with Bro. Bruce again! Ken came with us, which was a hilarious combination! It was a pretty good time, at least for me. AND, he said yes to church on Sunday!!!! Yay, it has been a month in the making so we are very excited!

Then, we met with the Shrives! They are the ones from my first week, with the fancy old cars! He is a Less active member and his wife is not a member. It was supposed to be with both of them, but she was super busy, so it ended up with just him. Which was surprisingly good! It never ceases to amaze me how perfectly things end up, especially when they go nowhere near how they were planned to! He quit coming when he was about 18 and he is probably in his 60's now. He shared some really cool experiences that he has had over the years that have helped him to still have a strong faith in Christ. He asked what he can do to make sure that neither of us get transferred and said to make sure to come back before we leave! Haha, that is definitely the question of the month!

THURSDAY

Thursday we had our zone meeting! And I had my 3 month interview with president. I love President Morby and the interview was wonderful and so helpful. He asked me if I feel like I am ready to train...I said of course I'm ready if that is what he needs me to do! He said I have been on his mind for a trainer for quite some time. Nerve-racking! Either way it goes, I will be SO okay with. We'll see though!

Jennifer had her baptismal interview with Pres. that day too! So, while we waited we picked hymns for her baptism, which is the 18th! It was wonderful :) She is SO ready for this day.

Then, we had dinner with Esther and her family. Woohoo! It was so great. We all click so well and had just a great, fun time! She invited us back next week and we are going to teach the plan of salvation. Esther is so prepared for the gospel, (i think)! We shared a message at the end of dinner and she just shared her outlook on life and her questions and it was incredible! Ahhhh, I am excited! And her kids are a hoot! They are 10 and 7 and are just hilarious. I let them play with my hair and it was just lovely, I should've taken a picture!

FRIDAY

On Friday we have time to go to the library and do "mormon.org" time. It is so great and really rejuvenates you for the week! I was watching some of the mormon messages and had the most wonderful idea pop into my head! I am going to invite Alondra to go to seminary. She keeps saying that she knows she needs to be baptized, but she wants to learn more. We have gone through all of the lessons with her already and were kind of stumped on where to go next. So, if she is willing, this will help her a lot!

Later, we went to the Chavez's to make tamales! It was so much fun and I had never had one before, let alone make them. We also did makeovers, Alondra is in love with makeup (like Addey), and is really good at it. She has SO much and does all these fun colors. It was a blast. Their family is just so wonderful and so loving to us. We got on the topic of transfers and were all nearly in tears! It is going to be so hard to leave them, whenever that will be! Yahir's baptism day will be the day we find out what is going to happen. I invited her to seminary and she said yes! All around, it was a great visit with this fabulous family!

We went to contact a former investigator after dinner with Sis. Spravzoff. Her name is Crystal, and she was home when we stopped by! She said that they (her and her husband) are still interested, but have just been so busy! We asked her if we could help with anything. She said no, then we explained that when we ask that, we truly mean ANYTHING. We asked if there was any help she needed with laundry or dishes! Now, we are meeting her at the laundromat on Tuesday to help her with that and I am so excited. She is the sweetest thing ever!

 (let us make tortillas!)

(can i hear a "HOT TAMALE!" (we made over 100))

(extreme makeover: Sister Kerr edition)

Then, we went with Sis. Spravzoff to the grocery store and stocked up on snacks for our weekly snack marathon at their house! We got a nice foot long sub, taquitos, ice cream and chips and salsa, and Dr. Pepper! They are the greatest, love them to death, cannot wait for you all to come and meet my ward family here!

SATURDAY

We had our SPC meeting again for the month. Waffles and eggs and sausage and fruit! It was a blast, as usual! Our stake is so helpful and SO missionary focused right now. Right after we went and did a service project. We were raking leaves on this nice trail they have. And I am a pro-raker! One of the girls from our ward asked me, "did you grow up around lots of trees?" Hahah, oh yes I did! Thank you for teaching me to work, mom and dad. So many of the missionaries just didn't have a clue.

(rake, rake, rake, senoras!)

We took Alondra, Yahir and Miriam on a tour of the Stake Center where they will be baptized! It was so fun and Yahir is even more excited! Then we planned his whole big day and got him a jumpsuit. The first one we had him try on was too small. Haha, it was so tight! He went back to the bathroom to change and he was stuck in it! He started yelling for his mom. It was adorable. As we were leaving, I put my arm around Alondra and told her how much I loved her family and we started to cry again thinking about leaving! I love the people here so much, it is crazy!

(me in my bed!)

SUNDAY

Happy Birthday Skyler!  Today it was announced to our ward that we are getting a second set of missionaries! Everyone is so excited, with good reason too.

We had a lesson with Jennifer and everything is looking good for her baptism on Friday. One of the elders who had taught her is coming to baptize her. He is home already, so it is really special that he is coming back for her. She is secretly excited! Jennifer doesn't show her emotions all too much, that's why I say secretly!

Then we went and had a game night with the Chavez Family. They are a hoot!

 (Game night take: one)

 (Game night take: two)

 (Yahir and I at game night)

(WORD. sis. stone is w. alondra is o. yahir is r. i am d. with our best punk faces!)

(This is Suzy!)

                                                                                                                                            

President gave me a scripture to read after our interview. John 16:33. It helped me a lot! Read it. I have the line of a song stuck in my head the past couple days, from How Firm a Foundation. it says, "For I am thy God and will still give thee aid." I know that my Heavenly Father is with me. He asks what at times may feel like a lot, but He will still give us the help that we need to accomplish the things He asks of us. Our burdens and trial can and will become light through Him! I KNOW this is true. I love each of you so much! Go be a fellowshipper :)

xoxoxox, Sister K