Ward Christmas Party!

12/12/16

Hey Mom!!

So...I'm STAYING in Bear Creek with...SISTER SMITH!!!!! Three transfers in a row!!! CRAZY!!! 

The Concert was great, it was the Lakewood Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Mormon Chorale and the Rocky Mountain Bell Rings. They all did a very good job and there was a church there, St. Rafka, and all the proceeds and donations went to them to help their mission of hope in the middle east. helping Christian refugees in the middle east that have lost their homes or loved ones. It's pretty cool. The music was amazing and it really makes me want to be in choir again :( 

We had a Mission Tour with Elder Grow, of the Seventy, this past Friday and it was super cool, he is very spiritual (obviously) but also very funny :) we were giving new instruction on how to plan and set goals. So before when we would set goals for the week we would always put a one for those who are being baptized and confirmed in the coming week. But this training from Elder Grow actually says that if we don't have a baptism we should put ZERO, and in turn plan that particular goal for the entire transfer. So long story short Sister Smith and I both prayed and when we were finished we both said at the same time that we would have 2 baptisms in week 5!! WOW!! It was super cool and so now we are trying to find those people are suppose to be baptized in the next couple of weeks! It definitely helps with motivation, because now you know when it is going to happen and you know that people are definitely prepared, you just have to find them. 

Ward Christmas Party. SO we were elves (see attached pictures) and it was super fun! SO story time. There was this homeless guy named Randy, who was living in his car and was in the parking lot when people started to show up. A member of our ward Bro. Jones walks over to him and invites him to join us and have a warm meal. He agrees and joins us for the party. At the end he is given leftovers and President Carter (1st counselor in stake presidency) ends up talking with him about a picture in the hall way. It's the one of Joseph Smith and the First Vision. And we join in on the conversation and end up giving Randy a Book of Mormon and our number. we were talking and he expressed that he was very impressed and it reminds him of how he needs to treat others. It was super cool!! 

That was pretty much our week, nothing too exciting ;) 

Anyway, 

Lots of LOVE, 

Sister Sanofsky :) 

P.S. Did Cole, Randi, and Tyler get my letters?

Happy companions and new hair color for Maddie

Christmas Elves and A Snake?!

12/5/16

SUP MOM!! :) 

First, we are focusing on and reading a lot of Repentance chapters for our upcoming Zone Conference. Elder Grow of the Seventy will be there, and is giving instruction on teaching Repentance and Conversion using the Book of Mormon. SO...we (meaning Sister Smith and I) are reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma 26!! And it's amazing!!! you should definitely check it out. 

Also check out the talk by Jeffrey R Holland called 'Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence" It's fabulous also :) 

Had Stake Conference this weekend it was pretty great learned a lot and we were able to have 2 investigators come to both the adult session and the Sunday morning session. It was Awesome. 

this week is going to be super busy with service and this huge Lakewood Christmas concert and we have our ward Christmas party this coming Saturday (Sister Smith and I are going to be Santa's Elves) AND transfers are next week. Not sure what's going to happen but don't send anything as I'm not sure if I'll be going or staying. I'll let you know next Monday. 

Nothing else is really coming to mind and I forgot to write down the things that happened this week. SORRY :) 

Love you as always, 

Sister Sanofsky

PICS:

Sister Anderson gave us stuff for our elf costumes and the last one is of me holding a snake :) 

Thanksgiving and a little Homesick!

11/28/16

HEY MOM!!! 

So Happy Thanksgiving!! We had a great Thanksgiving with the Thomson Family they are great and we had a lot of yummy food :) I got a little homesick that night and cried for a bit before falling asleep. I'm not sure why I got homesick, probably just remembering being with family this same time last year. I'm SO glad I only have to endure one holiday season on my mission, It's really difficult. 

On Wednesday we visited Sister Norris and she has a 2 year old named Olivia and Olivia has this baby doll that is scary real, i will attach a picture, but it looks like a real baby so Sister Smith and I just had to hold it :) 

On Friday we had dinner with the Brody Family and they are awesome, they have a fifteen year old daughter named Bronwyn who reminds me a lot of Miranda, in the fact that she doesn't really like physical touch especially hugs of any kind. So as a punishment they would set an amount of time that she would have to hug them. And if she didn't do as she was told the first time they would continue to add time until it got to a family group hug :) I suggest doing that with Miranda, see what happens :) 

So we had exchanges this week, which is where two companionships exchange companions for the day. It's super fun and we get to know other sisters in the Zone. 

YUP... I think that's it :) 

Lots of Love, 

Sister Sanofsky

1. Picture I drew for Olivia, It's her and Anna and Elsa :) 

2. LOOK a BABY

3. It's fake!! 

ASKING FOR HELP - NOT AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS!

11/21/16

HEY MOM!

Okay so this past Saturday we attended a funeral for an older lady in the ward who hadn't been able to attend much the past few years because of cancer and other health problems. But she pasted away and the funeral was very well done, not a ton a people there but it was still very good. I don't know if I told you this but about a month ago, we went to another funeral for a young girl who was 21 and died of an asthma attack. She wasn't really active in the church and there were a ton of people there both members who knew her when she was younger and her friends who knew her recently. Both were very sad and at the same time full of hope, because at both funerals the plan of salvation was mentioned and emphasis was made on the life that both of them had lived. In both there was also the comment to look at your own lives and what you have done and how you can make your life better, in memory of the ones you have lost. All very emotional but I realized that no matter who you are, when you die, or what life you have lived the Plan of Salvation is still the same and we will still be able to see our loved ones again.

So last week, Saturday, we (Sister Smith and I) where asked by a member of the bishopric to speak in sacrament meeting this past Sunday. My topic was "Finding answers to your own gospel questions" So long story short I could not come up with anything and it was super stressful and so it's the night before and I am asking Sister Smith what she thinks and she tells me I should pray about it since I want to receive an answer to my question. And me and my prideful self are like "NO I don't wanna" when the rational part of my brain is like, "that's a good idea and could really help this process along." so after going back and forth for a good hour I FINALLY got on my knees and said a prayer. And after that the words came easily and I was able to finish my talk that night. Fast forward to yesterday morning when we are giving our talks in sacrament and I use some of the scriptures from the talk that I had written but all in all I didn't really use my notes at all. It's really cool and really frustrating at the same time. Cool because I know that it was by the spirit because I can't even remember what I said, but frustrating because I can't remember what I said. Oh well at least I made some people cry and I could definitely feel the spirit while Sister Smith and I were speaking. 

Okay so Wednesday was 70 degrees and then Thursday morning it dropped to 30 and started snowing!!!!!!!!!! It's gone now but it was so COLD!!! I stand by my statement that I do not like snow :( 

Nothing much else has happened this week, and since this week will be a holiday week we will be doing a lot of service. Since people don't really like it when we knock on there doors and they are trying to spend time with family and have Thanksgiving dinner :) 

LOVE YOU LOTS, 

Sister Sanofsky :)

COMP FEELING BETTER / LESS ACTIVE WORK IS HARD

11/14/16

HEY MOM!!!! 

I got your letter! We went home last Monday and it was sitting in the mailbox, but I got it!!! 

And Sister Smith is feeling a lot better. It's been great, and I haven't gotten sick yet and probably wont get sick, at least not by her.

Things in Denver are good. It still hasn't clicked in my head that the temple is fifteen minutes away. People talk about going to the temple and I think "Oh, you are going to be gone all day. Stuck in the car for 6 hours" But it's really not and I just can't wrap my brain around that! :P 

SO about our week, the mission has shifted focus to helping the ward and reactivating less active members. So we have been visiting a lot of less active members this past week. It's interesting the different responses that we get, some are "we don't want anything to do with the church, not interested" or they invite us in and tell us how much they love missionaries. It's like they consider themselves Mormon but don't come to church. Which when we teach them is frustrating because they, for some reason, aren't willing to admit to themselves that they aren't actually doing what they are suppose to. 

Also is Miranda doing one of the BYU softball camps this coming summer? I was talking with a member a couple nights ago and one of their daughters wanted to play softball at BYU, and he said the most important thing you could do is go to the camp, because BYU doesn't really do the whole recruiting thing because of the honor code and standards that you have to uphold. They just let players come to them. Anyway, yeah...just so you know. ;) 

But yeah that's all for this week :)

Love you Lots, 

Sister Sanofsky

ARE YOU THERE? AND ARE YOU SEEING WHAT I'M SEEING? SWEET!!!

11/7/16

So I haven't heard from you in awhile, starting to think you don't love me????

please see Alma 60:6

In other news, I forgot to tell you last week, but we got transfer news this past Saturday, I can't believe it's already been six weeks, it has flown by SO fast, it's crazy! But anyway, we got transfer news..and...I'm staying, in Bear Creek, with Sister Smith. YAY!!!! 

Hey I got a letter from Miranda! It was crazy, I opened the mail box and it was weird in the first place, because I don't usually get letters, then I saw the handwriting, and I thought 'that kind of looks like Miranda's handwriting, weird.' And then it turned out it was from her and that she's SUPER serious about serving a mission! That's AWESOME!!!! So I wrote a LONG reply pretty quickly and dropped it in the mail Thursday, I think. So it should be there soon. 

Speaking of letters, did you ever get the letter I sent awhile ago with the pictures of all of us and of Cole at his baptism and the short letter I sent with? Just wondering. 

Also, is there snow yet in Wisconsin?! We haven't gotten snow yet for the past month or so, it's been in the low 60s, sometimes high 60s, super sunny and not a snowflake in sight. The people don't really like it right now because they want to go skiing and it's not even cold enough in the mountains for them to make snow. But as missionaries it's GREAT for tracting! :) 

So I may have said this in my last letter but last Saturday Sister Smith had to go to Urgent Care (so I totally didn't know that these were a thing, are they in Wisconsin too?) and they said she had bronchitis. So we had to stay inside because Sister Smith was REALLY sick and that didn't get over till about Friday evening. She is still coughing and gets tired easily but she is on the mend and we were able to work Saturday and Sunday. We were able to talk to people, although no new investigators as of yet.

Also did you have Regional Conference yesterday, where Elder Rasband spoke and there was a lot of talk about temples? If so we were watching the same thing at the same time!!! SWEET!!!! 

Yup so I think that's everything. This week has been uneventful, but I'm sure I will have more to tell next week.

Lots of Love, 

Sister Sanofsky

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

10/31/16

Hey Mom, 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!! 

So the first part of this week was AMAZING, we were able to contact a lot of less-actives and we found a family of four to teach!!!! YAY!!!!! Her name is Kaylee and she is a single mom with three teenage daughters. We have a return appointment with them tomorrow! 

So then most of this week Sister Smith has been really sick so we went to the doctor on Saturday and it turns out that she has Bronchitis :P so she's on medication that makes her really sleepy and she is really tired and so we haven't been able to do much but that is okay because a plus side to all of this is that the members are being really nice to us. We can definitely feel the love!!! It's AMAZING!!!!! 

So yeah I lot of catching up on paper work and things, just trying to keep busy. :) Other than that not much going on, what about you?

Lots of Love, 

Sister Sanofsky