HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Learning Spanish????

5/30/16

Hey Mom!! 

Thank you for the Birthday Song, and for everyone sending me Birthday wishes, I really appreciate it :) Oh my goodness you will never believe it, our District Leader came to our apartment this morning and sang Happy Birthday and gave me peanut m&ms :) flowers, and a birthday card :) it was so sweet, also our Sister Training Leaders called and sang, and so did our Zone Leaders :) So yeah, so far it's been a really good Birthday :) 

So things are good in Craig, same old same old, teaching lots of people. But we did have a baptism this last Friday, Mike was baptized and it was AWESOME!! Super Spiritual. All the talks were super good and everything went very smoothly. And then he received the gift of the Holy Ghost on the following Sunday :) again super spiritual.  

So yeah I'm doing well, Sister Johnson is having a rough time so I find that if I focus on her then I don't really have to worry about me and everything seems to work out.  

Oh! and I'm slowly but surely learning Spanish :) 

El Evangelio es verdadero! (the gospel is true!)

Anyways

Love you Lots, 

Sister Sanofsky

Sad news - Transfers - More Work to Be Done!

5/23/16

Note: Last email Maddie shared a tragic event that happened in her area. A young man took his own life. I didn't include that part last week but this week's reference to the event was too powerful for me to leave out. I took out the family name to preserve their privacy. I'm so proud of Maddie and very impressed with her faith and willingness to continue to do the work the Lord has asked her to do.

Hey MOM!!!!!! 

Okay so Transfer News.......drum roll please :)...............Craig 2nd/Baggs!!!!!!!! I'm staying for another transfer :) WITH Sister Johnson!!!!! So yeah this transfer should be fun :) we also now currently have 4 people on date to be baptized!!! and Mike is getting baptized THIS Friday. Also our mission is low on sisters especially spanish sisters and I've felt really strongly about asking president if he would move me to spanish speaking. Not sure it's actually going to happen, but whatever the Lord feels is best, I'll go where ever He needs me :) 

Okay so yes this week was super hard, but it was also super spiritual, we were thankfully able to attend the funeral which was on Saturday, and both his Mom and Dad spoke and they both just bore their testimonies and shared memories of their son. His mom also said something really amazing, She knew that this wasn't anyone's fault, she has received confirmation from our Heavenly Father that it was her son's time that he had fulfilled his purpose here on this earth and that it was his time to return home. She also said, "He had a bad moment, not a bad year, or a bad month or week, or even a bad day, it was a moment." When she talked you could feel that what she was saying was true, I know this because the spirit was there, it was in the chapel and gym the ENTIRE funeral service. It was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget. Trust me there was a lot of crying on my part but the entire time that she was talking I didn't shed a single tear, because her talk was a message of hope and forgiveness, truly truly amazing. The entire thing was super super spiritual and it was amazing to see almost the entire community, members and nonmembers alike, at the church to support the Family. At Ward Council we heard that there were over 500 people there, they used every chair available in the building and people were still STANDING in the back.

SO we saw a miracle this week, at least I think so, we were tracting, it was right after the funeral on Saturday. Sister Johnson and I were in a pretty somber mood as we started tracting and the SECOND house we try we are able to do the survey, transition to a lesson, and invited him (Mike,another Mike) to be Baptized in July....and he said YES!!!!!!!! It was super cool and it felt like the Lord was reminding us that there is still work to be done, that yes what happened is sad and we will continue to help the ward and the Family but that we also have an important work to do here.

Okay so that was kinda long-ish and now my fingers hurt :P but that's kinda it for this week. More next time. 

Lots of Love, 

Sister Sanofsky

Rain, Rain - Zone Conf and Did you say you Sing??

HEY MOM!!!!!! 

It's been raining the past couple days, I've been able to wear by rain boots :) but that is the only plus side to that :P This week has been a lot of tracting so I've been cold and wet most day :)

We also had Zone Conference this past Thursday and the Zone Leaders found out that I could sing and asked me to sing a special musical number. And then Sister Murdock (President Murdock's wife) asked me to lead the last song and stand at the microphone so that everyone knew when to come in. It was the song "Come unto Christ". Yup and Elder Taviuni (Zone Leader) said, afterwards, that I should be expecting more calls later on. So yeah by the end of my mission I will have no problem singing in front of people. :P 

That Zone Conference was also kind of sad because it was President and Sister Murdock's last Zone Conference before they are done with their mission :( but I wasn't too sad because I don't really know them all that well, I've only been out, almost 3 months. 

I got an email from Miranda, one question: What happened to Miranda? I mean she still kinda has a big head but this was really deep. When did this happen? It kinda made me tear up a little :'( Anyway give her a big hug from me. 

But yeah speaking in church is kinda easy now, we bear our testimonies every fast Sunday and I've had to give a couple of trainings in District Meeting (every thursday) which are like talks that are 10-20 minutes long. I'll be a pro when i get back ;) 

Baptism planning is going great, it's kind of surreal that i'm only 3 months in and already seeing so many miracles. 

Transfers: I kind of want to go but i want to stay at the same time. I love love love Craig, but seeing a new place would be really cool too. So whatever the news is, I'll be happy :) 

Love you Lots, 

Sister Sanofsky

Day After Mother's Day - Back to Work

5/9/16

Thank you Mom I really appreciate that, and I love you. I realize that those are the things that I need to do, it's just actually doing them that is difficult. Wow even writing this email is making my eyes water just thinking about yesterday.

Well I guess it's time for the blog :) 

Alright it is really starting to warm up in Craig, so when we tract we usually park the car somewhere and then walk, sometimes by the end of tracting for an hour or so it takes us a little while to locate our car again :)  But the weather is super nice so I'm not complaining!! :) 

Not much has happened this past week just a lot of running around to all our appointments and teaching. This coming Thursday is Zone Conference and we have to drive 2 and a half hours to get there and we have to be at the building at 7:30 IN THE MORNING! It's gonna be a long day. And I'll tell you more about it next week after I've taken notes ;) 

Also 2nd transfer is almost over (on the 24th) I kinda hope I stay in Craig...but then a small part of me wants to see other parts of Colorado. Oh well at least I know I'll be happy either way :) 

ON the spiritual side of things we are preparing for another Baptism on the 27th of May!! Woot Woot!!

SO yeah, more details to come on that!! BYE!!!! 

Lots of Love, 

Sister Sanofsky

Welcome Sister Johnson and Loving Scripture Study

4/18/16

HEY MOM!!!

                So yes we had transfers this past week and Sister Johnson is my new companion. She’s really cool. She is from MINNESOTA!!  And she knows about White Castle and Culvers!!! It’s great! And she is SUPER TINY!! But really though, it’s crazy. She also wants to go to school to be a PA. and she will get her undergrad in bio chemistry!!

                Give Sister Stapp a big hug from me and tell her that I miss her, and if she has any last minute advice for me, while I’m still kind of new J

                Personal study is super cool we have time to study for an hour every morning. We usually end up studying for our investigators and reading up on topics that they may have questions on. It’s a really good start to the day, reading from the scriptures, I would highly recommend it. I have decided that even after my mission I will wake up and to an hour of personal study every day. It has really helped and I am finding different ways that help me to study and memorize lessons. I can’t take all the credit though, Sister Davis and Sister Johnson have been a huge help in that regard.

                There is a family that I really love! It’s the Prescott family, Sister Prescott is amazing and I love her a lot, she went on her mission to the Argentina, Spanish speaking and her and Bishop Prescott are really funny and super nice. They have four boys, Jacob (18) going on a mission to the Farmington, New Mexico Mission on May 18^th, Miciah (17) Finishing school then mission, David (15) in High school plays awesome guitar, and Zach (10) really great at piano and loves music, he’s awesome. I was also able to help them decide what colors to paint their house it was super cool. They had a gray color for the living room and a lighter gray in the kitchen and Sister Prescott wanted an accent wall in the kitchen and she couldn’t decide on a color, so she asked me and I suggested yellow. THEY PAINTED IT YELLOW!!! It looks amazing, if I do say so myself.

                There is a good amount of youth in the Ward and they are really great because they are so willing to come out with us tracting when we need them to. It’s really great! It really helps them see what missionaries do every day J I would really challenge Cole to go tracting with the missionaries or to a lesson with them, it really helps the missionaries out and it gives him that experience to maybe help him make a decision on whether or not he wants to go on a mission.

                There isn’t much by way of Ward Activities that we’ve seen yet but we’ve gone to a couple relief society activities, where they have food and members have brought their friends. 

Lots of Love,

Sister Sanofsky

Goodbye to Sister Davis:( and Pictures (finally!!)

HEY MOM!!

            So we had transfers today and so me and Hermana Chavez drove our campanions Sister Davis and Hermana Eldredge to Meeker, CO so that they could catch a ride to Denver because they are both done with their missions this transfer. It was super super sad, everyone cried and there was a lot of hugging going on. I’m really going to miss Sister Davis, it’s hard to imagine having another companion, but I know that it’s going to happen and I’ve prayed about it and feel a sense of calm, so I KNOW everything is going to be alright. So I’m with Hermana Chavez until tomorrow when we drive down to Rifle, CO and pick up our new companions off the transfer train. So my new companions name is Sister Johnson and she was actually Sister Davis’s companion before she came up to train me. It’s kind of cool, Sister Davis was able to tell me a little bit about her so that it isn’t a complete surprise.

            So Craig has been good, it’s kind of exciting we have a baptism on the 23^rd of April, Jennifer is getting baptized and she is SO EXCITED, we thought maybe she wouldn’t be ready in time and so we asked her if she wanted to move the baptism to May just to give her a little more time and she asked if she had to. We said it was her decision if she felt ready, and she said good, because I want to get baptized as soon as possible and I don’t want to wait until May. Isn’t that AWESOME!!! So it’s in two weeks and I never realized how much work went into preparing for a baptism. There is so much to do!! But it will get done and it will be great!!

            Also I was kind of having a hard time a couple days ago with knowing whether or not Heavenly Father answers prayers, don’t get me wrong I know he does I just hadn’t been feeling it recently and so I bring it up with Sister Davis because she realized that something was wrong with me and she suggested we pray for the answer together and so we pull over in our car and she offers the prayer and it doesn’t come right away but all of a sudden I feel super warm and this squeezing sensation and an image of you comes into my head, giving me a really big hug and telling me that you love me. I know that, that was my answer. He does hear me and He does answer my prayers, I just have to listen. Thought I would share.

           Anyway all is pretty well here in Craig. Hopefully I have more exciting things to share next week. Until then!

            Lots of Love,
            Sister Sanofsky

2 Investigators came to Conference WOOT WOOT!!!!!

4-4-16

AHHHH!!! I don't have much time. And honestly I can't remember anything that I was going to write, I should really write these things down. 

Anyway I'm so glad the packages will be here soon!!! And give everyone a big hug and kiss from me. Also General Conference was amazing, I don't think I've ever been that excited for Conference in my entire life. It was pretty awesome. And TWO of our investigators came to Conference, WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!!! 

Anyway that's it for this week sorry, more to come. 

Lots of Love, 

Sister Sanofsky

Maddie also sent me a copy of the talk she gave in Craig, CO and in Baggs, WY on Easter Sunday on Faith and the Atonement and I thought I would share her testimony that was at the end of that talk - It made me cry!

"I testify that we have a Loving Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son. That Christ died for us, He suffered for our sins, but not only that He also suffered for our pains and our sorrows. He bled from every pore because of his great and infinite love for us. I can testify that He lives, that the message that we share, as missionaries, every single day is that He lives, that this is His Church, the He stands at the helm. He is my Savior and my Redeemer. He broke the bands of death so that we might one day return to live with our Heavenly Father. But only if we let him, if we follow Him, only then can he take away our sins. 

I know that our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us, that he knows exactly how we feel and is able and willing to help us, if we just ask. I know that we have a modern day prophet on the earth, Thomas S. Monson. I know that Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the gospel, that it was his faith and his willingness to act that makes this all possible. I know that when we have faith in Christ and are ready and willing to act, we can accomplish all things that the Lord asks of us. And we will be able to see the miracles and blessings that follow.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."