Watch out Oregon! I've started driving!

Yes! I've started driving in my area this week and it makes me so happy!(: I've missed it so much and it feels a little more normal to be driving again - I just need to work on getting my driving skills back(;

It's been a super busy week! We had zone conference in Salem on Thursday And it was really awesome! I love president and sister Tateoka - after lunch and between meetings (which were super good!) they had us play badminton to wake us up and then used it to connect to working with our companions and the spirit in missionary work. It was silly and fun! and spiritual!

We also had exchanges this week and I took over the area! It went pretty good and we watched "on the Lords Errand" with Phil that day! I love Thomas S Monson so much! And know he is a Prophet of God! So excited for conference - 1 more month!!

Also guess what! I had to give a talk in church yesterday. Hahah (still not my favorite;) We were asked on Thursday and that night I had a little mini freak out for Sister Mickelson but I wrote it out the next morning - about developing a testimony in the Book of Mormon and on Sunday it went pretty good!

Hope you all have a good week! Keep praying! I love you!

Ps. We have transfer calls this Saturday!

 

Don't worry mom we were parked when we took the pictures(: 

 The day I started driving!

Exchanges with the cutest STL's



"So what do I need to do for baptism?" The best question you could ask a missionary!

Phil is pretty much planning his own baptism! Ah! October 26th! We're
so excited for him! Life as a missionary would be so easy if everyone
we taught were to ask the simple little question "so what do I need to
do for baptism?" (;
Well this week has been so hot! It's gotten past the 100's and it just
sucks the energy right out of us. Thank thank goodness we have an
apartment with a good working fan and a car with awesome AC (update -
I spoke way too soon! But our car is alright:) I am incredibly blessed
with both! Again, this week has been filled with service and staying
busy! Last Monday we had dinner with a less active family which one of
the daughters is not baptized yet but we're teaching her and hoping
that also working with her dad on getting the priesthood, he could
baptize her! After eating dinner with them we some how got on the topic of cookies and ended up baking some delicious snicker doodles
for them because they rarely get cookies and Thomas (the dad) was so
excited - just like a little boy. It was great! I love the things we
do as missionaries(;
So with school starting again (good luck to all starting school this
week!!) someone in church talked about how our lives is compared to
taking a test - part of our purpose here is to be tested and the
scriptures are the instructions. It's like a open book test, but not
only that it's a group test! We are given families and our church
families and friends to help us in life! How great is this plan that
Heavenly Father created for us! We have Jesus Christ, who is the great
example of how we should live but also through him even after we've
done everything we can to pass this "test", through the atonement we
can make up for the mistakes we've made. We can get that A+ also
called eternal life! All the struggles will be worth it. This past
week I read a talk titled "The Atonement: Our Greatest Hope" by James
E Faust and absolutely loved it! It's from the October 2001 general
conference and if you are selfish (like me;) and want to learn more
about the Atonement I would like to invite you to read it(: "The free
gift of His great atoning sacrifice for each of us is the only way we
can be exalted enough to stand before Him and see Him face-to-face.
The overwhelming message of the Atonement is the perfect love the
Savior has for each and all of us."
Cool story: last night for dinner we went to the Hammonds - who has
family that used to live in Saratoga Springs 3 yrs ago just down the
street from where we live! (Ps I heard that they went by last Monday
and talked to you mom?;) [She did stop by and I loved it!!!] and there were other families from the ward  at dinner and even a past missionary who had served in this area 2 yrs
ago came! Funny missionary thing is we have missionary "moms/dads"
which are just our trainers - so sister Mickelson is my "mom" and her
trainer is my "grandma" in mission terms. This missionary who came to
visit is my great great great grandma - so she trained someone who
trained this person who trained this person, down the line to sister
Mickelson then me. Cool stuff(:
Today we had zone pday - beach volleyball!! It was so fun! I've missed
playing volleyball since playing at the MTC. Our district went and
bought Hawaiian shirts from goodwill to all match - pictures will be
included!
I hope you all have a good week! Good luck with school and enjoying
the last little bit of summer!! Email or write me and let me know how
you're doing(: love you all!

~Sister Warburton(:

 

 me and sister Mickelson in 109 degrees!

our matching Hawaiian shirt district! "the marionberries" (;



Living on the Lord's Strength

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before
your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my
Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to
bear you up" (D&C 84:88)
We blow the minds of people by the strength the Lord has given us!
This week, we helped the sweetest lady and her husband (both who have
recently had surgery and shouldn't lift much) move their
newly-still-packaged couch from their van into the front room. Just me
and sister Mickelson! Prayers were answered and God gaveus the strength to do it! This couch was around 130lbs and they were
speechless after we brought it in(: They are not members but she loves

it when we come over and she is interested in the family history/search 

that the church does and we may be slowly making our way to teaching her

 - one small step at a time!(:

Guess what! Phil surprised us again!! We were at the family history
center on Tuesday with Kat, helping her get started on her family
history and he just shows up-his first time coming and checking it out
and it just happened to be while we were there too! Goodness, Phil, he
is the best! We also watched meet the Mormons with him on Saturday
(it's so strange watching it as a missionary) and Sunday at church he is
participating more and more in class. Seriously, his next step is
baptism and he's officially Mormon! But we've promised not to push and
we just need to be patient and hopefully he will let us know when HE
knows that's he's ready (he's so ready;)
This week I've also learned why I am not a Spanish missionary.. I've
tried but I can't even do the basics - Muchas Grandis does not mean
thank you(;
We are still doing tons of service. Plenty of teaching. and trying our best to 

be missionaries representing Christ(: I enjoy it!(:

I love and miss you all and Thank you so much for your prayers!

~Sister Warburton(:

 

 It was a super hot and sweaty day! But we were smiling(;

 The Sweet Lady - Sigrid - Took our pictures while we were setting up the couch

ZTM



Testimonies!

Sunday's fast and testimony meeting was amazing! Phil, who we're
teaching and who is investigating the church got up and bore a little
testimony about how he started paying his tithing and because he did
he is doing better financially. It SHOCKED us when he stood up to go
to the front and speak! Ah! He's more of a quiet person but he got up
and spoke in front of everyone. It was so great and we were so
excited! He's gaining a testimony!! Then the family that we go over to
help and teach a ton (I think I've mentioned them before) who a lot of
the kids have some kind of mental/health problems and hasn't all been
to church in a long time. Well, they were ALL there at testimony
meeting! Oh my goodness! One daughter who hasn't made the best choices
and was recently in a really bad car accident went up and in short
version bore her testimony on how God was watching out for her. Then
her daughter bore her testimony about family, and then the mom/grandma
went up too! We love that family! It was just so exciting to see them
there!
Church is the best. Kat, sis Mickelson and I got to help out with the
sunbeams for third hour and Hahah! They are funny(; "you know" (said
in a 3-4 yr olds voice with attitude).
Otherwise it's been a long but good week. . . What did we even do this week?
Donald (one of our areas) had a city wide garage sale so we helped a
ton of people out getting ready for that. Visits and meetings. Being
exhausted and tired but still going strong with the Lord's strength(:
Funny moment this week: after leaving a voicemail for someone that
we're trying to help get to church, I had to seriously stop myself
from ending it "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen" I was so close to
saying it (it was a real struggle to stop myself from saying it
because we say so many prayers throughout the day;)
Also! We are helping and teaching this one lady who already has a lot
of the same beliefs that we do (like how God, Christ, and the Holy
Ghost are three separate beings and how we should pray) It's amazing
how smart and prepared she is to receive this gospel!
And guess what! Today for Pday we went to Silverfalls(: I love this
beautiful place so much! We went with the Woodburn sisters and all the
Spanish sisters in our zone-It was so fun(: it rained while we were
there! And was absolutely beautiful!
I love this planet!(:
"all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things
that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all
the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is
a Supreme Creator." -Alma 30:44
Hope you all have an amazing week!

~Sister Warburton



People really do love the missionaries!

And I love being a missionary! Really, the joy we get from helping and
teaching is so incredible. We are often called Angels and it's an
amazing feeling to be doing something to help someone, really helping
in even the smallest way we can. I'm always worried about getting in
the way or doing something wrong but I'm realizing more and more that
the love behind the service and even just the small visits we make can
make a persons day brighter! Funny story: we have the SWEETEST lady we
love to visit - we love her so much - she's turning 85 this year. This
past week she was driving us home after an appointment and was telling
us how every time she's with us everything in her day just seems to
work out. Well on the way home we went through the drive through at
Wendy's (first time eating there since leaving!) we went right through
and got our food with no traffic but then as we were leaving we looked
back and the line was long! Hahah it was funny and perfect to see it
work out like that! (Which was especially good cause we were running
late to another meeting).
Last Monday, we and the Woodburn 1st sisters went antique shopping at
a bunch of different places in Aurora (one of our areas) the town has
tons of cute antique shops. In one we actually found a Book of Mormon
published in the 1950's that one of the sisters bought. We wondered
around the different places looking at a lot of cool old stuff in
these cute old shops. It was great(:
The rest of the week has been so busy. Lots of visits, teaching,
meetings, and helping! I have never done so much cleaning and been so
dusty and messy. (Dad is probably enjoying hearing this right now;)
but we are pro at it! To see people's gratitude for the service is
worth all the sweat and spiderwebs!(: I'm excited and it's keeping us
busy. Hahah we are still finding spiders in our apartment pretty much
every single night - each time is an adventure but we laugh about it(;
Hope everyone has a great week!
"So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep
growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."
-Elder Holland
I love you all!
~Sister Warburton(:

 Thank you to the girls from the SH2 Ward! These letters made my day!

Selfies during district meeting with the District Leader - Elder Gee

(This one's for you Katie!;)