#BeatLakewood

#BeatLakewood.      April 28, 2014  3:14 EDT

Salutations.

The transfer is wrapping up and the Parkland sisters were able to have two more friends join the ward!

Chloe and Mindy are hawaiian/jewish/baptist bundles of joy that are pretty much the nicest people I have ever met. They are so happy to have the opportunity to bring others closer to Jesus Christ through their own conversion experiences. They are inspiring, and have stronger testimonies than half the people in the ward currently - they already have goals to get to the temple, do family history work, have ward callings, bring the rest of their family to the church and serve missions if possible. "The Ramblin' Rose Sisters" will surely set Tacoma on fire.

Though we had some chaotic hurdles to get baptism suits all week (let me know if you want the details.), the baptism went smoothly, they had so much support (seriously, we had more people at the baptismal service than our sacrament meeting yesterday), and they are already missionaries to their friends and family.

Mindy and  Chloe before baptism:

(Jesus tends to photobomb our baptism pictures, nbd.)

Other than the awesome baptisms this week, the work is still going strong. We keep knocking, seeking and finding people that are prepared. 

(emphasis on the knocking part. we do a lot of that here.)

People in Parkland don't always beat around the bush. Or like us very much. But we still love 'em anyways.

Lakewood zone has been the focus of the mission this whole transfer, and we are seeing the blessings of dedicated hard work. This has been a transfer filled to the brim with miracles for all the companionships. Lakewood is on fire (to which our ZLs put #LakeofFire on the bottom of their texts) and so the rest of the mission has put #BeatLakewood on the bottom of theirs.

Just a little friendly rivalry in the mission. Keeping the spirit, accelerating the work, the usual.

And here is a snapshot of our District's last lunch.  Family photos are our favorite.

Transfer calls came in (cue dramatic music). Cassell and I are staying here in Parkland another round and Davis is moving on up to Bainbridge Island. So packing has become the decomp activity of choice the past few days.

Sister Davis might have gotten carried away in her packing efforts.

The lingering pot in the air here (and the resulting secondhand highs) might be to blame for our strange behavior.

(or missionaries are just weird. that one's almost as likely)

As much love as I can muster,

Sister Bishop

Lambs, Bunnies and Goats - part one

Monday April 21, 2014.  3:16 EDT.      Lambs, Bunnies and Goats

Greetings from Parkland y'all

This week has been tremendously awesome. Let me give you a short rundown:
- Temple Trip
- Lakewood Missionary Fireside
- 4 investigators at church. For the first time in um. months.
- All on date. All solid. Can I get an amen?
- Lamb of God Oratorio
- Rob Gardner

- Easter. Resurrection. Christ. All of it.
- Sunny skies (sometimes)
- Possibly dangerous amounts of cold medicine/vitamins/supplements that keep us going- A new nephew - welcome to the world little Levi!
- Finding out that my companions also know all the words to Sweet Spirit, and subsequently jamming out in the car
- Letters/packages/fruit baskets sent to us. Really.

Other stuff I can't remember right now (mission-brain is ruining me. welp.)
- A new nephew - welcome to the world little Levi!
- Finding out that my companions also know all the words to Sweet Spirit, and subsequently jamming out in the car
- Letters/packages/fruit baskets sent to us. Really.
Other stuff I can't remember right now (mission-brain is ruining me. welp.)


First off, our mission had a temple trip to Seattle (woot woot)
As you can tell, we were a bit excited.  We had a hard time keeping our composure (but that's fairly normal).

(I'm sure you'll find more pictures on the wa-tac blog as well)

The temple is just the best.  I advise you all to go to one as soon as possible.  Because it's home.

And when home is this gorgeous, why not??

Some sisters in the mission.  (We were split up over three days because we have too many missionaries for one trip)

Our district (plus Shuler, also normal)

Lambs, bunnies and goats - part Two

We also had our Fireside last week. It was amazing. Music and testimonies and the spirit. So good.

Last night we were also able to see Lamb of God because Chloe and Mindy wanted to go (thank you, investigators.)
Rob Gardner was there, so naturally we all got autographs from the man himself

Now let me tell you a bit about the fact that we are having four baptisms.

Chloe and Mindy - hawaiian/jewish sisters who are already so devoted to this gospel it's amazing to me that they weren't baptized the minute we met them. They are already missionaries to their families and friends and are already counting down the days that they will be able to go to the temple with their family. #golden

Allen - getting baptized the day after transfers. Has an amazing testimony of the atonement and how much this gospel has already changed him.

Kareem (Abdul Jabar. jk.) - has wanted to be baptized for over a year and is so excited to be able to be a full-fledged member of Christ's church and His kingdom. Love him

Now to quote a lovely song from a movie Becky and I used to watch all too often, miracles happen once in a while when you believe.
Faith allows miracles to flow into our lives, ladies and gents. Don't let faith falter, friends.

A very happy Easter to all from the Parkland Sisters.

But mostly from me (:

(and a shoutout to Sister Cassell's mom for the ears. An extra big shoutout to Sister Davis for putting up with Cassell and I enough to actually take a picture in them)

Oh and in case you were wondering about goats...
Welcome to Parkland: home of goats in the trailer parks.

FHE

FHE at a member's house last Monday - Lovin the parkland ward :)

#BecauseofHim

Monday April 14, 2014     3:12 pm EDT        Week 6

 #BecauseofHim.      

Salutations!

This Parkland Sister has survived another week among hoodrats, the homeless and weedshops (they're all pretty prevalent, but our message is for everyone so we love them all). I am currently in the community library and the best and brightest of Parkland are here. To my right is a SURx3 gangmember researching bundt cake recipes and to my left is a man that's been trying to convince my companion that he is a wizard.  #squibstatus

This is Parkland. This is real life.

And this is a classy statue in our area.

The weather here has been surprisingly sunny this past week (to which everyone in the state is crazy over. I've had a few people say I brought the sunshine; so, I blame myself, haha

The fact that there has been sun does not mean that there has not been rain though, that would be preposterous! So my trusty rainboots have already been broken in and well-loved.

Some Lakewood zone updates: my zone has a goal of 30 baptisms for this transfer, and my comps and I have a goal of 4, but as life tends to go, all of our amazing investigators who either were on date or should be have been on date have become delayed/dismayed/distracted. Que sera, sera.

We are currently teaching a LOT. Chloe, Mindy, John, Roman, Allen, Anna, Nicolas, Mele, Ty, Gabriela, Melisa, Kareem, Lezlie, Karen and Swayne. Plus a ton of referrals from the Spanish Elders - so we're keeping busy!

We also had a Missionary Fireside last night for our stake. It was awesome to have over a hundred missionaries in the area come together for music and testimonies of the Savior. We sang hymns and an arrangement of "Amazing Grace" and I sang "Be Still My Soul" with a few other missionaries. It was pretty dang awesome.

If you haven't seen it already, watch the Because of Him video about the Savior (mormon.org/BecauseofHim)

Watch it. Share it. Let it change you. It's worth two minutes of your time. I promise.

I don't know about you, but I am beyond thrilled that Easter is almost upon us. It is probably my favorite thing to celebrate; that Christ not only died for each and every one of us, but that He also lives for us. 

So please don't get discouraged. When you hit rock bottom, understand that the rock you are building on is Jesus Christ. He will lift you. He will strengthen you. He will save you.

Sending love from Lakehood,

- Still Green

P.S.  take Elder Ballard's advice and send me your PMG insights (;

P.P.S.  Sister Davis really does love this water tower.

P.P.P.S.  and so do I

Wheels down in Washington

Wheels down in Washington    April 7, 2014.   2:49 pm EDT (Virginia Time)

World - 

Much has changed in my life since my last letter. Let's start at the beginning, it's a very good place to start.

Fast Sunday at the MTC is a wonderful time. None of us missed being herded back to the cafeteria every few hours and the extra time for studying was appreciated. Our devotional speaker turned out to be Richard Elliott, the very talented organist for MoTab, and I fangirled on the inside. The plot twists however when David Archuleta walked in and the rest of the devotional started flipping out (reverently) on the outside. 

It was an amazing musical devotional as they shared their testimonies and talents. My companion pretty much died when David Archuleta said he prays for us and asked us to sing with him (can you tell she's a fan?). So being in the MTC really has it's perks (:

Our last night, the sisters in my district had a bit of a bash. All of the goodies we had acquired (including homemade bread/jam, cookies, Martinelli's, ice cream, etc.) were shared. The District 1 magic 8 ball even made an appearance. Definitely left the MTC with a bang.

Wheels up in Provo:

Wheels down in SeaTac:

I was able to meet President and Sister Weaver and was then handed over to my companions/trainers Sister Davis and Sister Cassell. They have been waiting for me to get here and aren't completely corrupting me.We are all very different, but in the best way possible. This picture probably best describes our relationship:

Please note that this is the nicest neighborhood here, so we were safe to take a picture (Even if Davis didn't get the memo). This place is overrun with dogs, cats and smokers. 

I've been born into the Parkland district, in the Lakewood area (read: Lakehood). Ghetto is probably the first word used to describe Parkland. Cloudy comes in a close second.

Our mission is a holdout for tracting, so without fail, rain or shine (read: rain or rain), we are out knocking from 5-7pm. It's the best. I've only been aggressively cussed out by a crack addict once so far (I wish I was kidding.), and so far I haven't had any dogs attack me. 

Umbrellas are for tourists.

Our zone has a goal of 30 baptisms this month (#30tisms. really, the hashtags really are a thing here.) and we have quite a few investigators that we are hoping to put on date this week. Hopefully I'll have more good news to share in the coming weeks! We got five new investigators in one day and will potentially have 6 on date for baptism by the end of the week. #greeniefaith

We've even had two days of not rain here since I arrived. I'm counting that as a miracle in and of itself. 

I hope you all were able to watch/listen/read/attend General Conference this weekend!

It's always been my favorite, and though the mission changes a lot about you, it hasn't changed this. I love how lovingly bold the apostles and prophet are. We are certainly going to face a lot in the coming years, this much is certain, but with true discipleship, obedience and love, we are going to change the world.

I highly recommend each and every living soul watch Elder Corbridge's talk; he basically just gave a first lesson from the pulpit. I can't pick favorites (but I do have a soft spot for Dave and Jeff), but I'll leave you with a one liner that I figure literally applies to everyone.

"You are more than human; you are a child of God."

- the Greenie in Washington

P.S. the sun was out yesterday, which means we actually had a sunset of sorts! Here is a quaint water tower that makes Parkland seem cuter than it is (:

She's in Tacoma!

April 1, 2014

Dear Brother & Sister Bishop,

Just wanted to send you a quick e-mail to let you know your daughter has arrived safely in our mission. She was able to fly with other missionaries who were going to the Federal Way mission.

We are attaching a photo of her with us at the Puget Sound as well as a photo of her with her first companions/trainers. Sister Davis is from Williard, UT; Sister Cassell is from Draper, UT. Both are wonderful missionaries. They will be serving in the Parkland area. Sister Bishop’s address will be 501 111^th ST CT E #O304, Tacoma, WA 98445.

We are thrilled to have Sister Bishop here with us.

Have a great day!

President & Sister Weaver