One More Transfer in Santa Maria!

Fam,

SISTER BLANCHARD AND I ARE BOTH STAYING TOGETHER HERE IN SANTA MARIA! I love Santa Maria and I am sincerely excited to be staying here for another transfer! I am so excited about the people we are teaching here, and the ward is as great as always! I was actually so sad yesterday at church thinking that I might be leaving. Lucky me! I get to stay here and stay with Sister Blanchard to finish up her last 6 weeks of training! This is my first time staying with a companion for more than a transfer!

Our family history center has a sign that says "Heavenly Father
is planning a great Family Reunion... and we are helping!"
Also, on this day I found out that I am a real Mesa girl. This was the first time in
my life that I have ever worn a scarf AND a coat.. that's a little embarrassing.

 

This week we were able to have a wonderful meeting with one of our investigator D. For a while we have wanted our ward mission leader, Brother Terrazas, to come with us when we visited with him, but it hasn't worked out. This Saturday Brother Terrazas was able to come with us, and he and Doug were really able to connect. It was a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation and it was incredible to have Brother Terrazas there to help answer some of his questions and better understand where D was coming from.

We also had another great lesson with K this week! We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and it was another lesson where we were so glad to have another member there. Sometimes it is hard to gauge how much he understands what we are saying. He has Down Syndrome but is very high functioning and he lives on his own. A sister from the ward came with us and she was such a great help! She has served a mission and she is just a very patient woman. She did such a great job at helping us teach simply, and direct the lesson to his needs. It is always great to meet with him. He also came to church again this week and stayed all 3 hours!!

A great back yard

 

There are so many great things happening here in Santa Maria! Yesterday we found out lots of exciting news! There is this one former investigator N who has had many LDS friends over the years, and has studied a lot about the church, but didn't really want to take the lessons from the missionaries. Her friend that is in our ward told us that she is finally ready for them! I haven't met her yet but her friend says that she has already read all the standard works and will be a joy to teach. We are so excited to meet her soon! 

 

Also, our investigator A is going to be available again next week for us to teach him! (Remember him, and what a miracle he was? He's he's the military guy who had to go away for a while.) We are excited to meet with him again! He has amazing potential and we hope that he has really been taking the time to read and think about the Book of Mormon while he's been away.

 

So there are banks here called Rabobank ("ROB A BANK").
They make me giggle every time we drive past them!

 

We also had another great lesson with M! We had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation this week and she admitted that her goal is to be sealed in the temple! She lived in Utah a few years ago and has always been in awe of the Salt Lake Temple. She knows that what we teach her is true but she is still having a hard time acting on the answers she is getting. She also came to Sacrament meeting this week!  She has made SO much progress just in the past month and so I am excited to see what the next 6 weeks has in store for her!
 

The good old Burrito Loco! We have gone there so many
 times with members that the workers there recognize us.

 

This week we had many great lessons with Focus 15 families and other less-active members. We were able to have members come with us to many of those appointments and it was just wonderful! I feel like we have really been working on member involvement this week and we are seeing great success. This ward is truly a great and welcoming ward, so they have been such a blessing for us here in Santa Maria.

 

A member from the ward got Sister Blanchard and I "Sister Teddy" bears.
We were dying because they are just too cute and they also even have little missionary bags!

 

I honestly am excited to work with Sister Blanchard for another transfer! She has taught me so much already, so I know that the next six weeks are going to be great! This transfer I have learned more about sacrifice and it has all been because of Sister Blanchard. She has taught me how to love and care for everyone we meet even more, and she has shown me how she willingly gives up all her time and thoughts to our investigators. We have had such great times together and she is really making great progress! This week we have really been able to teach together and work together well, so I am excited that we can just let this continue on next transfer!
 

By the way, there are a few people in my ward here that will be going to the Gilbert temple open house! I told them to say hello to my family for me!

 

Much much love,

Sister Mason