I'm getting transferred! Plus, one of the best weeks ever!

I am transferring tomorrow! I am going to Santa Maria and my new companion will be Sister Higgins! Sister Higgins was in the MTC with me and she is straight up hilarious! I loved the time I spend with her in the MTC and so I am so excited that we will be together!

She is from Scottsdale or Chandler, so it will be a companionship of Arizona sisters. Crazy thing too, she already graduated from ASU before she came. I can’t believe that 2 Sun Devils would end up together. She is a couple of years older than me, but besides that we are almost twinners. I can't wait for all the adventures and miracles we will have in Santa Maria! I will send you pictures of me and Sis. Higgins soon. I know that I took a few pictures of her at the MTC, so she will be a familiar face.

Our MTC Sisters, including my new companion Sister Higgins
and my replacement, and MTC companion, Sister Snow
(click to enlarge)

Sister Mapa is staying in Agoura and Sister Snow (my MTC companion) will be her new companion! Sister Snow and I are just switching spots this transfer because she is now companions with my last companion (Sister Mapa) and I am going to be companions with her last companion (Sister Higgins). Crazy huh?

The switch-a-roo companions. Sister Snow, me, Sister Higgins, and Sister Mapa

Mom, thank you for the Halloween package!!! I absolutely loved it, and my roomies just kept telling me that I have the cutest mom ever! It is so true! Thanks for all the cute missionary Halloween quotes on the adorable treats!

 

Mom, you are the best! We loved the Halloween package!

Even sister missionaries need a little Halloween candy

This week was a week of miracles! Last week I told you that Sister Mapa and Sister Bennett, on exchanges, found two new investigators! I’ll call them B and K, and they are the son and daughter or a former investigator T. We went back to teach B and K and their mom T was there too!

First of all, one of the biggest miracles happened when we were trying to pick the perfect member to come to the lesson with us. We looked through the ward directory to find someone about the same age as the son. We decided on this young man Ammon from the ward, who is a senior in high school and is preparing for a mission. He met us near their house, and when we told him who we were seeing he said that he is really good friends with B and that B even came to church with him before!

The investigators were so excited to see Ammon, and even though this was Ammon's first time coming to a lesson with the missionaries, he did a wonderful job! How perfect was that? It looks like they have automatic fellowshipping from the ward!

We ended up teaching them a brief overview of The Restoration and then taught them the Plan of Salvation. They were all so fascinated with the things that we were teaching them and B (the 17 year old son) was even taking notes! The mom was last taught about 5 years ago and now she says that she is very open to listening to what we had to say. She was basically the perfect investigator and told us that she really wanted to find out if everything we taught her was true! They committed to read the Book of Mormon as a family, and they were excited for us to come back to teach them next week. They have amazing potential!

The Agoura Sisters in our p-day attire

 Another miracle happened when we went to go visit a former investigator P. My companions and I have been trying to catch him home ever since I've been here (starting 4 1/2 months ago). I have never been able to see him and I have been to his house over a dozen times. We've called him many times and have left  him messages. We have had no response but we tried again Saturday morning to see him. Miraculously he was home! Even better than that, he was still interested in investigating the church and we set up an appointment with him to come back later this week! What a miracle! I had been thinking this whole time that he was avoiding us, but it turns out that he just works a lot and has been out of town. I am so excited to see what comes of that!

Our last district picture together!

One other miracle is that one of the less-active members we've been teaching came to church on Sunday! Her name is J and she had told us before that she really wanted to try coming back to church, but it had been years since she has been to the ward. She kept her word this week and came to church! The great thing is that Sister Ray, the member we took with us to visit her last week, called her the night before to tell her where she and her husband would be sitting in Sacrament Meeting, so she could sit by them. Sister Ray also stuck right beside her throughout the meetings so she would never feel alone. J absolutely loved church yesterday and I was so happy that she came!

One last picture with my great companion Sister Mapa

Sunday's meetings were absolutely amazing! In sacrament meeting Sister Mapa and I both gave talks on one of the past General Conference talks about missionary work. Sadly none of our investigators came to hear us speak.  A high councilor spoke too. There was also a fabulous piano, cello, violin, and viola musical number of "Consider The Lillies." It was just wonderful.

Dad, thank you so much for sending me the printed versions of the General Conference talks along with the CD’s that I asked for. The printed versions helped me so much when I was preparing for my talk yesterday! And you didn’t even know that I was speaking.  You are the best missionary dada ever!

During Relief Society we had a Visiting Teaching Conference! We had a brunch and heard great talks on visiting teaching that were so inspirational. The room we had it in looked like a wedding reception. It was totally decked out with beautiful tablecloths, all kinds of cake platters for the food, and many beautiful floral centerpieces. Mom, you would've been in heaven! It was so beautiful and so much fun! It was especially great for J because it was a more interactive class so she was able to meet a lot of sisters from the ward

Planner covers I made for all the sisters in our apartment. They are the best.
You slide your planner in a flap inside and you can also hold mormon.org cards in it.
Props to Sister DiLiberto for showing me how to make these :)

Besides all that, it was a Plan of Salvation week. We taught that lesson so many times that Sister Mapa and I could probably teach it in our sleep! This week we also started going to members homes to teach little Restoration lessons, and teach them how to share the gospel and introduce the missionaries to their friends. We have focused on families that have high school age kids and it has been great! It has helped them practice to invite their friends to different activities and helped them think of referrals they could give us.

Seriously though, miracles upon miracles are happening in Agoura. I can't even express how different it is now from when this transfer started. At the beginning, we had only one investigator and another investigator that was completely avoiding us. All we really did was walk and tract all day. We were able to find a few more wonderful people to teach, and within the past week or so people are just coming out of the woodwork. We even found a few former investigators that are interested in meeting with us again! It has honestly been one big miracle.

I am so happy for the time I have spent in Agoura. Agoura really became my second home. This transfer was tons of walking and hard work, but I have seen great changes because of our hard work. Splitting Agoura 1st and Agoura 2nd Wards into 2 areas was truly inspired because with all our time dedicated to the 2nd ward, we were able to find new people and see miracles every day.

Happy early Halloween! This week I found one of the biggest pumpkins I have ever seen

I have learned so much this transfer as well. I definitely learned how to work hard and how to have patience. It was hard at the beginning to be all sweaty and exhausted from walking around all day, but sometimes when you have nothing else to do, you just have to knock doors and testify. I know that I have been a stronger person because of this, and I am so happy for the things I have learned here!

I also have basically learned all my flaws this transfer thanks to Sister Mapa. It has been good though because she helped me realized weird things that I don't even realize that I do. It seems like I am starting to get the hang of this whole missionary work thing!

Agoura will be missed, but I am so excited to join Sister Higgins in Santa Maria!

I LOVE YOUUU,
Sister Mason

Exchanges, Reactivation, and Service

Mom and Dad,

It's been another wonderful week here in Agoura Hills. We had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders this week and it was such a wonderful experience! I had the pleasure to stay in Ventura this week with Sister Burwell. I had a great experience and learned so much from her. She is such a great missionary and she taught me how to be a little bit more persistent. I noticed that she tried to leave something with every person we met. Even if a person walking their dog hurried past, she would stop them and at least hand them a mormon.org card. She is a wonderful example and she just showed me other ways to be a better missionary.
 

Me and one of our wonderful Sister Training Leaders Sister Burwell!

Sister Burwell made missionary work look so easy and flawless so it was great to work with her for a whole day. We saw some wonderful miracles in Ventura that day. It was actually very strange to be in a place where the people we talk to actually want to hear what we have to say. In Agoura it seems like most of the time we are trying to convince people why they want to listen to us and why they would want us to come back, so it was a breath of fresh air to talk to many people on the streets who were really interested in what we had to say. Back in Agoura Sister Mapa and Sister Bennett had great success and were able to find two new investigators for us that day! It was just a wonderful exchange overall!
 

During exchanges I tried to work on listening. I have realized that I am not a very good listener, plus I don't have the best memory either. That has been sad for me to realize, so I really wanted to work on listening better (especially listening for people's concerns).
 

One day this week was so cold and rainy that
we had to break out the rain coats and tights!

This week we were able to meet with many people, but one of my favorites is a less-active member I'll call J. I think I have told you about her before. We found her name on the ward list about a month ago and decided to go visit her. She is the sweetest woman and we found out that she was baptized a few years ago, but soon after her baptism she went inactive. We have been teaching her almost every week and she is making great progress! We decided to teach her like an investigator and go through the missionary lessons again with her. Yesterday we met with her and taught her The Plan of Salvation and a wonderful sister from the ward came with us. Sister Ray was wonderful in our lesson and really reached out to J to fellowship her.
 

We found out that J has been regularly reading the Book of Mormon and that she watched General Conference last week! She also said that she is going to come back to church this Sunday, so we are so excited! We realized that she wasn't fully converted when she was baptized, but now she is really taking the time for herself to find out if this gospel is true. She is such a sweet woman and she is definitely one of the best miracles I have seen while I've been here. We will see if she comes to church this week, because if she comes this will be the first time in about 6 years that she has been to church! We also told her that Sister Mapa and I are speaking in church this Sunday, so hopefully that sealed the deal for her!
 

The members have really been wonderful this week at inviting people to come over when they feed us for dinner. It has been great to see them reaching out to people!
 

Overall it has been an average but great week! We have really been begging people for service opportunities, so it was great to do more service this week. We were able to do some service for one of our former investigator's by walking their dogs. They are all rescue dogs. It was definitely a sight to see when we first walked them. One of them had diabetes, one had two broken legs, and the other is just hyper and kind of strange looking. Two of the dogs only made it to the house next door before they wanted to go home, so we only ended up walking one of them. Hahah, the things we do for service here!
 

One of the dogs we are starting to walk

By this time next week I will know what is happening for transfers! I am excited to know what is going to happen this transfer. I am starting to think that I will never leave Agoura Hills. I love it so much here, but if I am here another transfer I will have been here for 6 months! That is a third of my mission! Where in the world has the time gone? I am hoping (a little bit) that I will be transferred, but we will see. I also realized that next transfer will include Halloween and Thanksgiving!
 

Exciting times are coming up. but even more amazing things are happening here in the great California Ventura Mission!!
 

Thank you for being the best missionary parents ever!

I love you so so so so much! 

Sister Mason

General Conference Week!

Mom and Dad,

This week was another great week! One of the best things was that we really tried to have daily contact with our investigators. It was great to stay in regular contact with them, and it even provided opportunities to help and serve them more.
 

One miracle because of daily contact is that one of our investigators came to the stake center to watch general conference with us! She came to the morning session on Sunday and I was so happy to see her that I almost couldn't contain it. She hasn't been to church with us yet, so I was happy that she came. I was mostly happy because I know that some of the talks were just perfect for what is going on in her life right now. Afterwards she told us that she was watching some of conference online on Saturday too. She told us that she had felt the spirit while watching conference and that she has been able to feel the spirit more in her home lately. We were so excited to hear that! I attribute this miracle to our daily contacting efforts. We got to know her so much more and I feel like she was able to trust us more and really take in the things that we are teaching her.

What a wonderful conference weekend! Most of all, conference was just incredible!! We were able to watch every single session. It was hilarious though because we watched it at the stake center, which means that the only ones there were the missionaries from the stake (there are now 9 sets in the stake) and a few other people.
 

Our district!
Sister Thurgood, Sister Miller, Sister Proctor, Sister Casper, Me, Sister Mapa,
Elder Atkin, Elder Holthe, Elder Reese, and Elder Kleinman

It was so interesting to listen to conference seeking answers for all our investigators and less active members instead of just listening for myself. Some of the talks were absolutely perfect for some of the people we have been working with lately so Sister Mapa and I were just praying the whole time that they were watching it.
 

I love Sister Mapa!

Conference was another great excuse to talk to EVERYONE. It seemed like we invited every single person we met to watch general conference. It was a great excuse to drop by and talk to people we haven't seen in a while about conference. Hopefully the investigators and members who watched conference were able to have as great of an experience with conference as I did. Mostly I just feel so blessed, and conference reminds me that God does care what is going on in my life and that he really does want to answer prayers.

A few of my highlights from conference: 

David A. Bednar: having the eyes and ears of faith to recognize blessings in our lives.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf: Why would someone want to join a church that requires so much of its members? This talk seriously helped me with some of our investigators and some less active people that don't really feel like they fit in. There is truly a place in the church for everyone!
Kevin S. Hamilton: he was amazing in general. Fun fact is that he was in the Agoura 1st ward and is now a Seventy in Africa. I was able to meet him very briefly here before him and his wife left for their new calling a few months ago!

Elder Kevin S. Hamilton of the Seventy
From the Agoura 1st Ward

What about all the talks about MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK? Are you all now going to go out and do it? Seriously think about the one person you will share the gospel with before Christmas. I know that if every person sincerely does this, miracles will happen! I hope to hear about your personal member missionary game plan!

We were able to have a lesson with M this week and it was wonderful! The lesson didn't go quite as we had planned, but it was still such a great experience. The best part is that a semi-active member came with us to our lesson and she just contributed wonderful things to the lesson. She was able to share her conversion story and experiences from her life that really helped M with some concerns she had. She really emphasized how important it was for M to read The Book of Mormon to find peace in her life. It was a great lesson and I was mostly happy because I believe the investigator and the member were both able to benefit from it.

We were also able to meet with one of our investigators S. She is the sweetest lady ever. Last week we got the sweetest voicemails to reschedule our appointment with her. She said that she needed a few more days before we met with her because she really wanted to go through and read the material that we left her (pamphlets of the restoration and plan of salvation and the introduction to the Book of Mormon). She seems so sincere and really wants to know if what we tell her is true. One sister from the ward was able to come with us to our lesson and she was incredible! She and S have the same personality and temperament so they instantly got along very well. S accepted the invitation to be baptized and when she prayed at the end of the lesson she prayed so sincerely to know if The Book of Mormon was true and that if what we had taught her is true. I can't wait to hear if she was able to watch general conference this weekend because I know that some of the talks would be complete answers to her prayers. She is absolutely wonderful and I am already so happy to have met her.
 

Another view of the beautiful Agoura hills!

I still am in love with the beautiful Agoura Hills and the wonderful people we meet here every day! Sister Mapa and I have been getting along tremendously and have already learned so much together.

Sister Mapa and I ordered a brownie sundae to share and
definitely didn't expect it to turn out this ginormous. Mmm!

Love you love you love youuu!!

Sister Mason

No More Walking!!

Mom and Dad,

This week was another great week. We were able to meet with two new investigators. We met a very nice older man one day while tracting. He is Baptist but he is open to any kind of gospel discussions. He has had some hard things happen in his family lately, and he just recently went through a divorce. When we met him the first time we invited him to church and he said that he wanted to check it out.  We were able to come back and teach him the restoration lesson and it went great! He was having a hard time wanting to read the Book of Mormon because he is apprehensive about anything other than what he is used to. He is such a great man and we have so much faith in him. We can't wait to go back and see him this week!

The other new investigator is a miracle. We met her while tracting, and out of nowhere we started talking to her about The Plan of Salvation. She said that she was very interested in hearing about God's plan for us but she was busy. This week we were able to go over and teach her The Plan of Salvation and she is just wonderful. She is a young mother with two boys (8 and 4 years old). She is a very sweet woman and just wants to do all she can to raise her children right. When we met with her she had tons of questions but was really interested to see what we had to share with her. We also briefly went over the restoration and she said of course that she would read The Book of Mormon and pray about it. Seriously, she is wonderful!

 

We also got a car this weekend! Our mission got a shipment of new cars so we were able to pick up our very own car on Saturday. We were happy, but a little sad at the same time. We were sad that we won't be able to see Sister Casper and Sister Proctor as much anymore.

Our new car after being freshly washed at our little district hand car wash!
There are now 10 missionaries in our district, and 6 are sisters!

I am so grateful for the time that we shared a car. It was great to spend a little extra time with Sister Proctor and Sister Casper when we would drop each other off or pick each other up to switch the car. Of course it was difficult and exhausting to walk sometimes, but I know that we were able to find people to teach that we wouldn't have otherwise. One of our new investigators is a perfect example of that. We were able to meet her at the perfect time all because the other Agoura sisters needed the car and dropped us of to tract for a while. We also have talked to other wonderful people and hopefully we can meet with some of them this week!

Sister Casper and I had a little matchy matchy day on Sunday.
We both got twinner skirts at Costco last week.

I have done so much more tracting than I have ever done before, but it is really satisfying. Of course there is not a high percentage of success when we go door to door but it makes it so much more worth it when we find out that most people we have talked to have not seen missionaries for about 5 years. Now that is sad.

 

It is almost weird to have a car to ourselves again, but  I now understand what a blessing it is to have one. Sharing the car was definitely hard, but I know that it was something that I needed. It tested us to see what all four of us sisters are made of. I think we passed the test because even though it was rough, we had great attitudes and we were able to interact with members from the ward more when they would give us rides.

 

Hitching a ride with some members

 

This week we also had interviews with President Castro. He is truly an incredible man. I am so blessed to have him and Sister Castro. It was an amazing experience to meet with him and also talk about goals and things I've been wanting to improve lately. He makes every missionary feel so good about themselves and is very sincere. Yep, I have the best mission and the best mission president! 

 

While everyone else was in their interviews we had training from the Sister Training Leaders about planning and such. It was an incredible meeting. It's crazy that after every mission meeting we have I feel chastised but also completely motivated at the same time! For example, during that meeting I realized what things I have been doing completely wrong, but afterwards Sister Mapa and I were saying "okay lets go out there and make miracles happen!"
 

Sisters Mason & Mapa

 

THIS WEEKEND IS GENERAL CONFERENCE! I have never been so excited for General Conference in my life. I can't wait to hear all the wonderful things that President Monson, the apostles and other speakers will say! Mom, wasn't the General Relief Society broadcast just awesome? Looks like covenant keeping is on everybody's mind! I loved how the speakers talked about how doing simple things, like helping others, is a form of keeping your covenants. Love it! Also, President Monson's talk about prayer is just what I needed to hear. It was so great that he said that we were not sent to this earth to walk alone, and that God promises to be there right beside us if we just ask!

 

I feel so blessed in every way to be here right now!

I LOVE YOU!!!

-Sister Mason

The Kanan Shuttle

Mom and Dad,

This week was another wonderful week. It has been very interesting sharing the car with Sister Casper and Sister Proctor. It has meant that we have been walking tons. We are really excited because many Relief Society sisters volunteered to give us rides, so that will make this week a lot easier.

This week we have met some of the rudest people I have met so far, but I am so glad that Sister Mapa and I have great attitudes! It would have been a long and depressing week, but it wasn't that bad because Sister Mapa and I get along really well and actually like being around each other.

I love my new companion Sister Mapa!

I truly love Sister Mapa. She is a gem. She has been teaching me how to mellow out some times and just enjoy the moment. We have already had wonderful experiences together and I know that we were meant to be companions right now. Most of the week involved tracting. We were able to find and talk to some wonderful people! We are so excited to go back and visit some of these people. We will let you know how that goes!

So, funny story. This week we were so excited to take this little bus that is free here called the Kanan Shuttle. Sister Mapa and I went to one of the stop across the street from our apartment and were so excited for it to take us all the way to our area. (The saddest thing about walking is that we live in the other ward’s boundaries so we are really far away from our area.) We waited there about 20 minutes for it to arrive. We got on the bus and asked the driver what stop was the closest to where we wanted to get off. To our horror, the closest stop was less than a mile from where we got on. We rode on the bus for about a half of a mile and then got off and walked about an hour and a half to get to where we wanted to be. Hahaha, FAIL. We have really been working it out with the other sisters so we can drop each other off in our areas, and we have been getting rides from members, so it isn’t that pathetic. Good thing after the shuttle failure we just died laughing the rest of the walk!

The coolest huge suit of armor at a member's house!

This week we were able to meet with some of our investigators. We brought a wonderful member, Brother Hart, with us and he was a huge help. The meeting with this family was great because the husband shared some deeply spiritual experiences he has had. He was even starting to tear up when he was talking to us. We were only able to get through a small portion of the restoration lesson. I believe they are still a little confused as to why they need what we are telling them. Right know they think that we believe similar things so there is no need to make changes in their lives. Their young adult son came to church this week!! I was seriously so excited to see him that I couldn't keep from smiling. He came by himself but he stayed for Sacrament meeting and Sunday School! Hopefully he will keep coming, but also hopefully he will start getting involved with the YSA (Young Single Adult) ward. It seems like he and his mother are completely prepared, but it may take a little work to get the father on board. I love this family so much already. I can just tell that they are great people and have amazing potential. Hopefully we will be able to meet with them again next week!

Happy birthday to this beautiful sister!!

This week was also Sister Mapa’s birthday!!! She turned 20 on Wednesday. Thanks Mom for sending me all the decorations for my birthday last month because we totally decked out our apartment for her birthday and even blew up balloons to cover the floor of our living room. In the morning on Sister Mapa's birthday, Sister Proctor made funfetti cake pancakes out of a cake mix! They were so yummy. We melted frosting to put of them because we didn’t have any syrup. Mmm, there’s nothing like birthday cake for breakfast! Sister Proctor is amazing because she has already graduated from culinary school before her mission. She loves to cook so it has been great to have her around. She has already volunteered to make us super tasty breakfasts this week.

Sad news is that President Castro said that we can't to go to the temple for her birthday. The temple is out of our mission boundaries. He said that the opportunity for our missionaries to attend the temple for their birthday is for those who haven't had the chance to go to the temple in a long time. Since Sister Mapa was able to go to the temple just a few weeks ago in the MTC, and I went last month for my birthday, we weren't allowed to go. So sad.

I was able to get ice cream from the ice cream man this week!
I was so happy! I have been craving a twoball screwball
so bad and it reminded me of my childhood!

Sister Casper and Sister Procter had their exchanges this weekend! Instead of having one companionship going to Ventura and one staying in Agoura, both sets stayed in Agoura this weekend. That meant that there were a total of 6 sisters staying in our apartment this weekend! It was crazy but awesome! One other surprise was that only one of the Sister Training Leaders came, and she brought Sister Randall with her! I guess the Sister Training Leaders had to split up and bring other sisters with them this time because they just have so many exchanges to do, and so little time.  It was so great to see Sister Randall, and I know that she was so happy to be able to go visit people in Agoura again! Our exchanges aren’t until October, and I am excited to see what happens then!

My four generation chart. One of my first trainers Sister Randall,
my follow-up trainer Sister Casper, me and my trainee Sister Mapa.
3 out of 5 of my companions are in this picture. So crazy!

Mom, thanks for that experience you shared. I’m having similar experiences. I have learned on my mission to accept anything that people offer. Sister Casper used to laugh at me all the time because whenever people offered us water bottles or snacks I always said yes. I have learned that people love the opportunity to help us and get great satisfaction just from being able to give us things.

I have been absolutely loving being a trainer. I know that it is a huge responsibility, but it definitely hasn't been as bad as I thought! I have been learning so much already and I just hope that I am living up to the role that God needs me to fulfill.  It has already been a wonderful experience to go through the training program again and learn new things every day!

I LOVE YOU!,

Sister Mason

I Honestly Love Being a Trainer!

Mom and Dad,

It was another great week here in Agoura Hills! First of all, I love my new companion Sister Mapa. She is 19 years old and from San Jose, California. She got her mission call to Brazil but she has been temporarily reassigned to our mission until her visa comes. She is Tongan and she is so loud and hilarious! She is such a fun person to be around but most of all she is willing to do hard or uncomfortable things. I can just tell that she wants to share her testimony with everyone who will listen. She has already taught me so much in the past week. I have been trying to push her out of her comfort zone this week and I have been really impressed with her!
 

Me and the wonderful Sister Mapa!

One night when visiting a less-active woman, it was time to share a message with her so I simply opened up her scriptures, gave them to her and silently nodded "go for it" to see what she would do. She did a great job and she ended up saying just what this woman needed to hear. It was a wonderful experience. She is basically trained already. All I do is ask her to try things. Sister Mapa is the greatest and we are very similar. I really felt strongly from the minute we were in the car on the way home from the transfer meeting that we needed to be companions. I haven't exactly found out why, but for right now I can say that we work so well together already and I am so excited for the great things and miracles we will see this transfer!

These are the missionaries that arrived this week with Sister Mapa.
There are 35 new missionaries and only 3 went home.

I honestly love being a trainer! I know it is a huge responsibility but it has been wonderful already. I feel like I have been able to feel the spirit so much stronger in my life when I am training and I have been able to learn so much already. I have survived my first week as a trainer and it really wasn't as hard as I was fearing!
 

The 4 Agoura sisters! Sister Proctor, Sister Casper, me, and Sister Mapa

It has been interesting already sharing the car with the other Agoura sisters. We have been walking tons but we have also been able to meet wonderful people already! I am so glad that our area has split because it makes the area much more manageable to cover. We have basically decided to split the car each day so we would have the car in the morning and then we would usually get dropped off close to our dinner appointment and tract for a few hours. I have never walked and tracted so much in my life! Normally it would be a little depressing to walk and tract nonstop but Sister Mapa and I have had great attitudes and we have been working as hard as we can. Sister Mapa and I decided that this transfer we are going to try to knock every door in our area! We will see!
 

Cherry, one of the best people I have met in Agoura!
Sadly, she is not in my area anymore so I won't be able to teach her.

This week we met with one of our investigators. She was someone who was referred to us from Elder Watts and Elder Atkin in the Westlake area. We had a wonderful meeting where we taught her about The Book of Mormon and prayer. When we had met with her before, her kids were home and it was very loud and distracting. This week when we met with her, her kids were at school already so it was much more peaceful and the spirit was so strong. We invited her to start reading The Book of Mormon so we will she what happens with her. She is a great woman and we could already see a huge change in her from the last time we met with her!

The Palmers! An amazing family in my ward.

Sad news about one of our investigators, the amazing one that was planning on getting baptized this Saturday. We met with her this week and it was so sad because she told us that she had lots of doubts about getting baptized. She also told us that her ex-boyfriend (a member) has been telling her to check out different churches. Plus, on top of that her grandma is very sick and everything seems to be crashing down on her. She was crying when we were talking to her and I was so close to crying too. We tried to tell her that it is natural for Satan to try anything he can to attack her before her baptism. So for now she is not on track to get baptized but we will hopefully be able to still meet with her and see how things are going. I was so sad to hear about that but I know that she has her own choice :(

A lake in our area, Lake Lindero. It is so beautiful!

I still am in love with Agoura Hills! It honestly feels like home to me now. I love the people and the members are incredible. I feel so lucky every day to be here. I hope I stay here for a while but who knows how long I will be needed here.

Just know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU TWO!!

-Sister Mason