Missionary work is about to explode!

Sorry about last week. I guess my pictures didn't send. And this week I had to send you a few emails to get them to fit. So sorry about the mass amount of emails in your inbox this week. I hope the pictures were worth it. 

Today is the beginning of another transfer! My companion and I found out Saturday night that we were staying together. She goes home in November so I will be in my area at least until January. There weren't very many changes throughout the mission so it will be interesting to see what happens next transfer. We did find out that our district leader is sadly leaving us. He has been a good district leader! He always makes sure we are doing okay! It will be sad to see him go! Hermana Prince and I have been trying to narrow done the Elder's who could be our new district leader but so far we have no luck. We will just have to wait until Thursday after transfer meeting.

General Conference was last weekend and I left my notes at home but I loved every minute of it. The missionary work is about to explode (in my opinion anyway) I know so many future missionaries who have just been waiting to turn that golden age and now most of them have already talked to their bishops in order to start going! We also had a zone conference this last weekend. I think I want to stay on a mission forever! President talked about all the exciting things going on with missionary work. He has a goal to double our baptisms for the next year. Of course it is not about the numbers but our mission has reached that high once before and he wants to gets us back up there. I am not sure all the facts but he said that our mission is one of the highest in California and going up as for the other missions around here are on a slow decline. President Hall also talked about how we need to get back to using Preach my gospel and becoming Preach My Gospel missionaries. I just want to give a heads up to any future missionaries out there who may be preparing for a mission STUDY PREACH MY GOSPEL!!!! It is so crazy how much is in there. I don't think I will ever fully have preach my gospel down during my mission and I wish with all my heart I had studied it more. I have already seen the success as our mission has really tried to live the principles it contains. It is interesting all the rules the missionaries have to obey but as we do we are blessed a hundred times more!

One of the miracles we came across this week was a guy named Nacho. I was going through the area book one day and I found this lady who the missionaries had taught. On her record it said she had moved but that there was someone else living there that could be interested. I called the missionary who had taught her to see if they were able to find any success and she said they hadn't. I felt like we should still go over and give it a try. When we got there, we locked our bikes up and started walking towards the house. I immediately noticed that the house we were going to was the only house on the street completely empty with a for sale sign. My companion suggested that we knock on both of the neighboring houses. The first one no one answered but the other side we found Nacho. We invited him to come to general conference and he said he would come! And he definitely tried to come! He was on his way over when he got hit by a truck which popped his tire. We found a member to go get him but we gave them the wrong number. By the time they got to where he was he was already home. On Thursday we had an appointment with him but he didn't show. We went by his house on Saturday but he was at work. On Sunday we called him before church but he didn't answer. While we were sitting in relief society Hermana Prince told me to make sure the phone was off, when I checked we had missed a call from him. He told us that he was at the church! We walked outside and found him and he stayed for the whole thing! He even made friend with the guy who was baptized last night! We should use him to come to our lesson since they became really good friends! He told the Elders that he liked all the classes he went to and I hope he liked sacrament. We had our primary program. It was a really great Sunday! It is crazy because this week we had so many horrible things happen. We counted last night and we had 15!!!! that is right 15!!!! lessons cancel or weren't home when we went over! 15!!!!! We definitely hit a wall. It was really sad. I am grateful to have Nacho to be our miracle.

President also talked about how the church has been in the news more then ever due to Mitt Romney running for President and actually sounds like he has a shot. Plus the broadway musical the Book of Mormon. One Elder actually knocked into a cast member this week from the musical. Crazy Eh? The cast member gave him a signed copy of the program with all the cast members. The Elder brought a Book of Mormon to the zone conference and had all of us sign it. He plans on taking it back to him. Isn't that a great trade. A signed copy of the Book of Mormon signed by all the missionaries in the valley? I will let you know if I find anything out about what happens. It is just so cool to be a missionary NOW! Plus all these new missionaries will be coming out! The missionary work is about to explode. It is only going to get better! I was sitting in Zone Conference thinking about general conference and missionary work. I can't wait to come back on a mission. It is the greatest thing ever! We were at this house last night, we were supposed to have an appointment but instead we showed up to a room FULL of make up and dress up clothes. Apparently they were taking pictures for a quinceanera party that they are having in MARCH!!!!  They get all pretty and take these glamour shots. I don't know really what for I have not been to one yet but they are huge so I won't ask. Anyway as we biked away feeling a little sad that we didn't get to teach this lesson we had been planning for days! I realized that it is so easy to get wrapped up in things that don't matter. We went over earlier in the week and gave them a heads up that we had a "special lesson" prepared but we wanted them to be reading and praying as much as possible this week in order to prepare. Then we show up and they were far from prepared. I love this family so much! They really are great but I got a glimpse of...I don't know what it is but being a missionary you just realize the importance of things. Especially being at general conference. I felt like the last days are coming, I felt like even now more then ever we should be speaking up about the gospel, about the fact that we have a prophet, living, just like Noah or someone else in the scriptures. I felt like conference was a call to raise our voices and do WHATEVER we can to be a missionary! Or help the missionaries! I had no idea how important members are to missionaries but they make or break the work really. Anyway I just feel like.... I want to be a missionary forever and that I wish I could just tell EVERYONE go to church! Pray! listen to the missionaries! haha I should say "Ask the missionaries". We as members have this incredible blessing of having the gospel in our life and now more then ever we are being talked about so now more then ever we should be speaking... Okay I am off my box (sorry about that) but I was just a little sad to be biking away (when our purpose was to talk to them about who in their life they could be sharing the gospel with)... biking away with no new referrals because they were busy putting make up on. I know it sounds a little harsh but I got a glimpse into my own life. I know! I know! It is so easy to not read, pray, study the scriptures, not go to church, etc. I can compare it to my p-days now. It is so hard to study when p-days we have SO MUCH to do. But I am realizing how important it is.

I don't know why I just typed all that. I was going to just erase it out there but I hope that one day I will look back on this email and realize my own testimony of this work. I better go I have a few more pictures I wanted to send you before the Elders get here. Love you!

-Hermana Fish

Ps I played soccer again this morning. Did I tell you I love it? Cause I do!