Tornados!

Hello hello!
 
     4 tornadoes swept in this week, they narrowly missed the area I was in at the time (we almost had to take shelter in a members basement...the sirens were blaring and she made us sit down and watch the weather report with her until it passed...haha it was adventurous!) Everything is fine though, except for in the aftermath the tornadoes brought in the cold weather. It has been so chilly, I feel like just yesterday was summer and suddenly I have had to don, Tights, boots, scarves and Sweaters! So crazy! I am not ready for it yet!

     I love serving in the Chardon Branch, we get to work really closely with the members which I love so much! In the Shaker Heights ward I felt really overwhelmed because there were so many members!!!  But here I have a goal to know everyone's name in the Branch!!! These next few months are going to be awesome! I love Sis. Nance so much! She is a breath of fresh air and is going to help me finish my mission out strong!!!! I love her! The Less Active we were bringing to theGladys Knight fireside canceled on us! We are so sad!!!!! We are praying that who ever needs to be there the most will be able to go though. We were able to give our tickets to some of the Chardon West Sisters investigators, Maybe there are the ones who really need to be there!

        
        We went to stake correlation last night (its a meeting with the 4 Zone Leaders and 4 Sister training leaders in the Kirtland Stake and our mission president and Stake President!)  It kinda felt like an auction when we started talking about tickets for the Fireside. President Vellinga and Bro. Packer were like "I need at least 10 for Saturday night, here are 6 for Friday....etc etc..." it was really funny! Tickets are so precious right now! The Saturday Night shows are completely sold out and we only have like 100 left for the Friday early show. The evening one is sold out too! and there are like 300 people in the Cleveland stake alone that are planning on going to wait in the Stand by line! Its so awesome! Everyone wants to come! Its going to be so packed! Sis. Nance and I did get asked to be 2 of the 12 assisting missionaries that get to help out at the Fireside though! SO that will be way fun! Basically we are going to be there all day Saturday and will hopefully get to see some of the show. They AP's said we will be getting home really late...like probably after midnight. That is so weird as a missionary.
    
       President Haymond also got to preview the "Meet the Mormons" movie. He said "this is going to be just as big, if not bigger for this area then the SUV and Gladys Knight Fireside" So COOL! The work truly is hastening!
   

        We were able to take some really cool people on tour this last week, We are all sad because the business of summer is gone, only a few people trickle in at a time now. But I love it too because it means we get to spend more time with them. In the Summer tours are like an hour because there are so many people, But now if it feels right and they ask lots of questions we have had tours that last up to 3 hours! Its so much fun to be able to really get to know them. One man we took on tour was so touched, He was from Scotland and when we got to the School of the Prophets he said "I have a lot of siblings back home who would do anything to be here right now!" He then asked if he could offer a prayer of gratitude. It was the sweetest thing! He was so sincere. It was one of the most spiritual moments I have ever had in the School of the Prophets, hearing this humble man with a Scottish brogue plead with the Lord to bless us, bless his ward back home in Scotland, bless all those he knew that were struggling with ill health etc. I am so grateful for being on a mission. "Thank you little black name tag, for giving me license to have beautiful and intimate experiences with complete strangers" (Elder Christofferson's CES Fireside Last night)

           
       Yesterday was a busy busy Sunday. We had that Stake Meeting and then also were asked to stay and help with the Kirtland Missionary Academy. Its basically like a Mission Prep class for the youth of the stake. It was really neat, We just help them role play a lot and talked about missionary work. Then after that there was a fireside at the Visitors center. The Bishop of the Kirtland Ward spoke. He shared his conversion story and it was so powerful! Patar (my former investigator who got baptized recently) came and bore his testimony too! It was SO AWESOME!!!!!! And then the night just kept getting better and better! We went over to the Robins house and got to watch the CES Fireside with them and the other sisters in our branch and with the Pikes (another Senior Couple) while eating Ice cream! It was so cozy and homy! I loved it! And it was SUCH a good fireside!

   

        This morning I was reading in 2 Samuel, There was a lot of crazy warfare going on and it suddenly hit me, The root of all the problems and issues in the Bible and the World pretty much boils down to people being selfish. That is why Satan tries SO HARD to make it so that we are constantly focused on our wants and desires and greed and lusts. Its so sad! But God has a plan that perfectly counteracts that! Think about it! That is why Family is at the very foundation of God's plan for us. Because in families we learn how to sacrifice and serve and be Selfless, like Christ. I love the Gospel, I love this church and I love love love my family!!!   

    
           Well, I better be off. We won't get another pday until next wednesday so we have a lot to do! I hope and pray you all have a wonderful day! Don't forget to read your scriptures!

                          - Go to Heaven!

                                  SisN

Coolest Summer Ever!

    Helloooo Utah....
           So, in case y'all haven't been very observant of the weather out here..I do believe it has been the coolest summer I have ever lived through. Weird. I was so expecting to be dripping with sweat all June/July/August but so far we have only had like 2 or 3 really hot days where I can even feel the humidity. Its been so nice! Most of July I have actually worn a cardigan everywhere. That's how cool it is. I have hopes that it will maybe get warmer in August but so far I am living the mildest summer of my life. I love it though. It has been raining a ton here, like cats and dogs folks, cats and dogs!!! Yesterday we had to pull over because it was raining SO hard and we got all sorts of flash flood warnings, Tornado warnings and the like. Sis. Mertlich and I keep hoping it will actually happen. I just really want to see a tornado before I leave here.  Not a really intense one, Just a baby one. We were sitting in the parking lot waiting for the rain to lighten up a bit and for a second we had ourselves convinced that the clouds were starting to swirl! Then Sis. Mertlich breaks out her vast meteorology knowledge(she took one class:) and begins to tell me how such and such is a sign of a tornado....haha We were hopeful for awhile there but it just wasn't meant to be.

        Have I told you how much I love Sis. Mertlich??? I am so grateful we get to be together for another transfer. I am learning so much from her. This week was awesome. We have had it rough for a few weeks. Just not much time in our area with Kirtland being so busy and all of our investigators are ignoring us and we felt like we haven't had a new investigator for a few weeks!!! But yesterday, Satan tried to do all he could get us to give up (we just were both having a bad day) but we kept going and ended up on a street where we made two stop bys we have been meaning to get to for weeks and it was such a miracle! One we have an appointment with for this week and the other one is now our new investigator!!! Her name is Nana and she is 81 years old and the funniest black lady ever! She adopted us already as her children so we are pretty much tight already. She is going to read the Book of Mormon this week. Such a miracle. I love those days when you know you really can't do it. You don't even have the motivation or desire to get out of the car... so you just give it all over to God and He makes it the best day EVER!!!!
           We also finally got a hold of our investigator D. We are seeing her tonight and are so excited. She is golden if she would just stop being so flaky with appointments. But its going to happen I have the faith!!!!

       One of the best moments this week was when Sis. Wagner (a less active/recent convert family we are working with) came into Relief Society. She said her mother (who they live with temporarily...its a really bad situation) kept telling her "why would you go to church you are already so late...there is no point now". But she said "I just had to come. Even if we were late. I need this, my kids need this!" She then excitedly told us how she has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying everyday this week, She said she put scriptures up all over her walls and she showed us her notebook where she has been taking notes on what she learns as she is reading and she kept going on and on about how clear her mind has been this week and she said "I feel like I haven't been making the best decisions recently but this week as I have been reading I have had the strength to make those good choices!" She was so excited about how much it has helped her. She is one of my favorite people in the world. There family is going through a really rough time and we are doing all we can to help them and yet often I don't feel like we can even make a dent in really helping them. But seeing her be able to apply it to her life. To claim those blessings of the gospel for herself and her family has been so amazing! They are so awesome! Her son Earnest really wants to go on a mission so we have been trying to help him prepare for that. They are such a special family. It suddenly hit me yesterday that I now only have like 5 weeks to work with them in this area. It is almost for sure that I am getting transferred next transfer and that makes me so sad!!! Its still a while away but time just goes so fast and it is the hardest thing to move on a trust that there will be just as much joy and fulfillment in serving the next ward I am assigned to. Mission's are the best thing ever! I can't believe how much I am learning and changing and growing and becoming better. God is SO good. I don't know how He got me here but I am eternally grateful that He did.
 

       This week I had to say good bye to my mama in the mission field (aka...my trainer), Sis. Jones. She actually trained Sis. Mertlich as well so it was a double wammy for us. Plus all of the other sisters that left with her we were pretty close to so it just was really hard to see them go! We love them so much! The new sisters are awesome but things are just so different around here all of the sudden! But, as Elder Sorenson would say "we just keep moving onward and upward" sigh....Sometimes I love change and sometimes I really hate it.
      

        I keep forgetting that this week I hit my year mark...can you believe it has been that long??????! Crazy.

        I hope you all are having a good week! Congratulations Katie and Jake on having your baby girl!!!! I am an Auntie again!!!!!! Friday was the best day of my life when I got Lizzy's letter about the birth! So excited to meet her!!! Don't let her grow any while I am gone!
                   

               Love you all!!!!

                         Go to Heaven! 

                                    Sis. Hannah Newren

                          

    

         

 pictures are with two of the wagner kids. Shantiniece and Jordan:) Aren't they so adorable!

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Transfers!!!

It has been a terrific week! We got 3 new investigators, all of whom are really solid! 1 is a recently returning members husband and they are so prepared to be strong strong members of this church. The wife's name is Uma (she is from Thailand) and then the non-member husband is Patar (from Indonesia) They are SO COOL! They cook the most amazing food. Last night they fed us Pad Thai. yum!!!!  We had an amazing lesson with him last night and the spirit was so strong!! He said the closing prayer and right after his wife just grabbed and kissed him! Haha...we were a little shocked but it was so cute! They are well on there way to the temple!! We actually will have to give them over to the other Shaker Heights North sisters after transfers... They closed there area for a transfer so we got to start teaching him but now they are bringing new sisters in again....I am so sad but am so grateful to have played a small part in welcoming that family into the church.
  
       Our other 2 new investigators have a lot of potential. Super open and both really spiritual:) They will progress really quickly if they just keep their hearts open!!! Cathy is the sweetest lady, she is always sitting out on her porching and she lives right by one of our investigators houses so we have seen her a lot and would always say "Hi" Well we finally were able to have a lesson with her. She welcomed us right up and sat us down and started asking us all these questions "Whats new with you two?!" "Tell me about your families! How are they doing!" Etc...Then she said "well, What message do you have for me today?" (she is such a talker!!!) So we whipped our the Restoration pamphlet and taught her about Prophets (we were trying to get further but she really wouldn't stop talking!!!!) She is such a spiritual person and said she would read and pray and see us soon! I am so excited to go back and see what she thought about it!!!

    
       Then there is D. We met her in a parking lot right by her apartments and after talking for a second she was like "I am actually a missionary too!" Haha, she is baptist and just loves to go around talking about Jesus so that was something cool we had in common, we were like "wow that is amazing! We LOVE talking about Jesus all day!" It was sweet. So we went back 2 days ago and she is really open. We just got to know her a little better and shared our testimonies with her and I think it really piqued her interest so we will definitely be seeing her soon:)

     
       Training meeting went really well this week. We decided to focus on having more love and gratitude for each other at sites and to really pull together and be unified this summer as things start getting busier and busier...so we had everyone pull another sisters name out of a box and write a letter to that sister. It was the most touching thing! Everyone loved it. 

    
       We also had mission leadership council. It was awesome. President Vellinga just got up there and said "alright..an Apostle of the Lord came and told us 2 things...1) to NEVER leave the Church and 2) That we need to teach better. SO....how are we going to do that....???" It was so spiritual, we then counseled together on how we can inspire and help the mission accomplish that. I love being able to learn from President Vellinga, he is such an inspired man!

       
       Now for Transfer info......We have to make up the schedule for all the sites sisters before transfers so we get to find everything out a few days before....It was SWEET! Otherwise I get so worked up waiting for the late night call that will tell us who has to pack there bags...Instead we just got a call from President, he made us solemnly promise not to tell any other missionaries...especially the sites sisters. and then we got an email from Elder Sorenson and started working on the schedule... it took aaaalllllllll day! I was so sick of that office and of staring at the computer screen...I wanted to scream and rip my hair out a couple of times. There just is so much to consider and we are still really low on sisters so its really tricky to figure out. Anyways...we did it though.
     
         SO. Sis. Johnson is getting transferred. I was so so sad. I love her so much! We have been just the best of friends. This last transfer has been the fastest and most fun on my mission yet. I have learned so much from her and really can't wait till you all get to meet her someday. Everyone in the world should meet her and be her best friend...that's how cool she is. I think I am still in denial, I just have no idea what this next transfer is going to be like!!! But, I do know who my new companion is and I am so excited to get to know her better and learn from her. Sis. Jones actually trained her too! Which is awesome because we probably have similar teaching styles because of it. So, I know God knows what He is doing and this must be for the best:) I respect Sis. Mertlich so much and am praying we will be able to do a lot of hard work and good together in this area. I am very excited to be her companion. I am so grateful President Vellinga really is so inspired, I have been so blessed to have the best companions ever!!!! Good thing because I needed them!!

         God is so good!!!

                I love you all so much! 

                         Sis. Newren

ps..

  I almost forgot! We went out to the cutest place called Bahama Breeze. Sister Johnson has wanted to go there her whole mission because she said it looked like the type of restaurant that belonged in California..So we tried it out and it was delicious, It was the best fish tacos and ceaser salad I have ever tasted! And it was such a fun environment! I felt like we were at the beach!!! SO fun!

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Really the BEST week of my Life!

  This week has been the most AMAZING week OF MY LIFE!!!! But really!

    Better just give you the week according to my journal.

         Monday:
              Practiced, practiced and practiced some more. Finally hunted down the frozen yogurt place in Mentor (Sis. Johnson is obsessed:) Shopping: Almond milk, hummus, eggs and TONS of Vegetables. Went home and cleaned the whole house just in case Elder Holland decided to drop in and inspect any apartments. Thankful for...Cliff bars and Panera cups (it helps us drink more water:)

         Tuesday:
             Sites were really busy so Sis. Johnson and I had to split up and take separate tours. This was the first time and to be honest I was kinda excited..it just sounded fun to take a whole tour all by yourself! It was not even fun at all!!!! That first moment I went and sat in the theater with my group all by myself was soooo weird. I suddenly realized how much I love having a companion! Sigh...it was rough but I made it through;)
     Sis. Johnson's mom sent her some fake mustaches so today she ran around with it on saying "My name is Inigo Montoya...you killed my father...prepare to die" Bwah! I died laughing. Thankful for...friendship...its so good to have a friend with you 24/7:)
 
          Wednesday:
                 Playing for Elder Holland was the most incredible 15 minutes of my life!!!! AHHHH!!!! 
  We were at the Visitor's Center when he walked in. So we just crouched upstairs by the balcony eavesdropping. His voice is so deep and kind and loving. He was just talking to a million people "hi how are you? whats your name? etc.." so cool. Then Elder Sorenson calls us and says "head over to the house right now. We are coming over for lunch pronto" so we run over there and try and calmly wait...yeah right! They walk in, Elder Sorenson introduces us "these are our Sister Training Leaders, they are here to do a musical number for us!" So we meet them all, they ask us where we are from, what are names are again. (Inside we were just freaking out!!) Then we sing/play for them....so nerve wracking! It went really well though, the spirit was so strong and at the end Sis.Johnson was just crying...she could barely finish, it was so sweet. When we stopped Elder Holland said "that was perfect....just like you two" (best compliment ever!!!! An apostle told us we are perfect!!!!) We talked with them for a bit longer. Elder Sorenson asked "would it be appropriate to get a picture with these sisters" Elder Holland was like "Sure!" It was so surreal. Then we shook all their hands again (it was Elder Holland, Elder Hallstrom and Elder Seldon). They complimented us, told us we were wonderful and doing everything right and then we ran out! 5 steps out the door we realized we had forgotten our phone inside...turned around and then were like "ahhhhhh better not..." so we then ran off to the Stake Center so I could practice for the other musical number for the meeting.
     The next 3 hours we gathered with all of the missionaries to learn from them. They walked in and Elder Holland says "We are going to shake all of your hands okay:)" so row by row we all go up and shake hands with an apostle. (3rd time that day for me!) He said "thanks for playing earlier!"
     His talk was so powerful! I will just share a few of the best quotes but when I get home remind me to read them all to you!
       "I had a friend in High School who went on to win 4 olympic gold medals in swimming, I asked him what his secret was and he said 'Kick when you don't want to kick and stroke when you don't want to stroke'"
        "Everyone looks pretty good the first few yards...its the end that matters. They don't give the blue ribbons out at the start, they give them out at the other end of the Lake at the Finish"
        "We are God's Investigators"
        He was telling us how he feels about returned missionaries falling away and them saying "but Elder Holland...that's just real life!" he said "THIS (referring to a mission) is Real Life, capital R , capital L. This is it! This is the closest you will ever get to it Real Life and what its supposed to look like!!" he said "DON'T go back to your old life. NOBODY can be what they were before. You CAN'T go back to that!!"
         "Nobody, NOBODY on the face of this earth has a PARTICLE of the Priesthood, except us." (he pretty much yelled this)
     Aw man...he said so much and every bit of it was so good. I pretty much could take any sentence and cross stitch it on a pillow it was so good!
       He taught us a lot about teaching with Power and Authority. It was amazing! He said..."We need to go out their and Astonish them."
        I still haven't taken it all in!:D

   That night we were over at Elder and Sister Sorenson's when the Palmer's walk in with Cindy (their investigator) On Tuesday, she told us, she had apparently called the Palmer's and told them that she was done. That she couldn't do this anymore. Well they got here to meet with them one more time and then took her to one of the meetings with Elder Holland. Afterwards she goes up to meet him and says "Elder Holland, I need a favour! Can you extend Elder Palmer's mission so he can baptize me!" Elder Holland just grabs her face in his two hands and says "You need to be baptized now! Be baptized before he leaves!" And so she is going to be!!! Its so cool! The Palmer's leave one Tuesday and she got baptized on Saturday! Coolest story ever!!!

 Thankful for...Meeting an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

           Thursday:
                District meeting...I made us sing a Christmas song for the opening hymn:) so fun! Had an awesome lesson with Susan. She says she believes Joseph Smith was a prophet and that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today. WHY ISN"T SHE BAPTIZED?!?!?!?! She just says she isn't ready....we think its her husband. He supports her but just isn't into it and I think that scares her.
       We also saw Sandy, she is a recent convert and is so hilarious. She reminds me of Stephanie  a lot. Such a brilliant storyteller!
     Thankful for... Those moments when you and your companion have the exact same though and so you know it was inspired!!! Happens all the time! LOVE IT!

           Friday:
              Training meeting was so great! We had Elder Householder and the Palmer's bare their testimonies as their missions are all up! So sad. It was powerful to hear them testify of the power of the Gospel and what Kirtland means to them. It went way over though and then we were just about to announce that we would have to push the rest of our meeting to next week when Elder Sorenson pops up and says "This meeting is not about time....we will go as long as we need to" So we continued. Sis. Johnson and I got up and led a discussion about what we learned from Elder Holland. It was so neat. He had told us that "this mission is simmering...just under boil, and its just going to take a little extra push to get it to really explode!" So, we decided that to help the sister apply that we are going to start reporting Key Indicators (just like we do in our are with the number of lessons we teach) from sites every week (frankly, I am really surprised we haven't been doing it already)! Its going to be really fun and it will just gives us all more motivation to take tours and make phone calls and chat so that we can find more people to teach here at sites. Its going to be really powerful!
      Thankful for...Awesome tours.

      Saturday:
           Miracle day! We had some crazy bus tours coming through and the schedule got all messed up so Sis. Johnson and I actually went to serve at the Johnson Home in Hiram OH. I have been waiting my whole mission to go their and I finally made it!!!! I was sooooo excited! It is such a beautiful place! We first went to do some service for our Bishop in the morning, his wife sent us away with the most delicious salad with Spinach and Kale and Avocado and cranberries and sunflower seeds. yum. Then we headed down to Hiram. It was kinda crazy because I really didn't know the tour. We had gone over it a little bit because Sis. Johnson served almost her whole mission down in Hiram. It, just made it extra exciting though:)
    It is such a beautiful place and I loved being there for the day!
    That night our investigator Jason came down for a fireside with Bro. and Sister Dalton (recently release Young Women's General President) He loved it so much. Then we took him around to meet Pres. Haymond (Kirtland Stake Pres.), Elder Sorenson and the Daltons and they all were like "You need to get baptized...you are missing out on the blessings" it was perfect! Just what Jason needed. He is seriously considering it so really pray for him!!!!
        It was the perfect day!
 Thankful for.....The Spirit. What a special gift it is!
 
      Sunday:
            Kinda a so-so day. This week just wiped us out. Sis. Johnson wasn't feeling good and I just felt so lethargic. Just had to keep kicking and stroking our way through it even when we didn't want to.
    Thankful for... A companion. On days like this you just wouldn't have the will power to keep working unless you had someone right there to keep going with you.

       Well there you have it. I feel so uplifted and inspired! That truly was the best week of my life. I am so grateful to have been able to learn from an Apostle of our Savior. Life-changing!
    I love you all! Thanks for reading this forever long email!!
                  Have a super fabulous week!
         As President Vellinga says "Go, to Heaven:)"
                  Sis. Newren

Best week of my life!

THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!
           
           But really. Not only is Elder Holland coming, but I get to be in the musical number for that meeting. AND even cooler then THAT....Sis.Johnson and I were asked to come and do a musical number in Elder Sorenson's (site director) home while Elder Holland, Elder Hallstrom and Elder Seldon are all there for lunch. Sis. Johnson is going to sing I believe in Christ and I am going to play the piano. It's the opportunity of a lifetime and we are freaking out just a little bit! It will just be so incredible to be that up close and personal with an Apostle of the Lord. We are so excited.

     

             So that's mostly what we have been preparing for. We also had to pull together a musical number with a bunch of missionaries for Zone conference. It was such a disaster! The song we picked ended up being harder then it looked and our pianist could quite master it and then we had NO TIME to practice! It sounded so awful when we ran through it just before and Sis. Johnson just kept saying "I am going to cry!!!" and I just kept saying "no you are not. Its going to be fine." Oh boy. It really was pretty bad. The Elders that sang with us had good voices but didn't really know how to read music and the flute and violin sounded sooo flat. Eeeeek! We did it though and it is what it is! Gonna practice more next time!

       
            We had a guy from the Church headquarters come and do some training with us this week. It was really neat. He mostly just talked about how important visitors centers are and how we need to apply everything we know about missionary work in our tours. It mostly  was just a good reminder to keep doing what we are doing (although we have alot to improve on!) Elder Sorenson said he told him two words referring to how we all were doing...perfect and spectacular. So..not a bad review.  Of course how could anyone come to Kirtland and not just fall in love with it. It is the most beautiful place on earth and we are all just so happy to be there!

     
       Then we had Zone conference too this week! It was powerful. Our Stake President (I am back in the Kirtland Stake by the way...first stake to be organized ever!!!), Pres. Haymond taught us out of the book of Ether. He pointed out how God told the Brother of Jared to make the boats "tight like unto a dish" (its say that phrase 5 times in one verse so it must be important) and then how that was the only reason they were able to survive all of the crashing waves and ferocious winds(trials) it took to get them to the promised land. He asked us "how tight are our vessels?" and then proceeded to help us understand that that is why exact obedience to all of God's commandments is so important. We don't want to leave any cracks for Satan to get in. It was so cool! Then of course President Vellinga got up and inspired us all to be better. He is the best mission president ever! 
 

        We had so much fun going to the Zoo on Monday! It rained and poured all day (good thing we had umbrellas!) our shoes were soaked (it took them two days to dry) but it was oh so worth it! Its a really nice Zoo! Then for dinner we went to Piada's (Italian Street food) it was delish, and for dessert...frozen yogurt! Yummy! It was such a fun day. and then we had three awesome lessons that night to top it all off!

       Kirtland is getting busier and busier and so its harder to get everything done in our area that we need to! I feel like we are always behind in everything! At Kirtand and in our area. Its so hard to keep up with it all but It is manageable and God is definitely helping us. One thing I loved that President Vellinga said in Zone Conference was "The Lord is the one who is Hastening the Work....we just have to keep up with Him." SO TRUE! GOD is just doing it! We just have to work hard enough and be worthy and keep going going going so that we can keep up with this great work! Its hard but so worth it!
 

 Funny story of the week:

          
So we had just finished up an awesome day in our area and were heading home. Usually Sis. Johnson knows how to get home but we ended the evening in a weird part of town so we used the GPS and I just clicked the "GO HOME" Icon. Well I had a thought pop into my head that maybe it wasn't set as our house in Kirtland so I double checked with Sis. Johnson "that go home button will take us home to kirtland right?" and here was our moment of miscommunication...in her head she heard "we are going home now right" haha so we go along our merry way. Half an hour later we pass a sign that says "Welcome to Aurora" and then just on our left appears the Barrington apartments. We drove all the way to her old home in AURORA!!!! which is like 50 minutes away from Kirtland!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH we just screamed and screamed for a second. "WHY ARE WE IN AURORA!?!?!?!" We had already been running late and now it was hopeless. We were supposed to go on Exchanges starting that night too! Ugh...we had to call and cancel and then start the long trek home! It was so horrible and hilarious. We laughed about it the whole way home...I still can't believe we drove all the way to Aurora! Oh boy.
  

      Side note: had a really intense Stake correlation meeting with The Stake president. Mission president and the zone leaders in the stake and the sister training leaders. The pressure was on! It was really neat though to see those men work together and to be able to counsel with them on how as the leaders we have to help this stake. It was so cool!
 
     Well all in all we had a great week. Not as many lessons as we would have liked but we did have 9 nonmembers at church yesterday! It was so awesome! 3 of them were our investigators. They all loved it and will hopefully be back!
       
 -Alexandria and Kayla are progressing very well and are excited to get baptized on June 27th.
      
  -We also have an investigator Jason who is going to go a fireside in Hiram, OH with Sis. Elaine S. Dalton and her husband and we are going to take him on a tour through the Johnson Home before it starts (this will be the first time I get to go there!!! finally!!!). It will be so good for him and we feel will really help him find his testimony.
   The work is going well and we are stepping up our game and really focusing on talking to everyone! Miracles happen everyday!
 

      I love you all so much! Have a fabulous week! The church is true!

                  Sister Hannah Newren

     

 

 

 

 

 

Change is good right?!

So....This has been the most suspenseful transfer call of my life!!!!! I will just tell you quick because its the only thing I can think about. I don't even remember what happened this week so it may be a really short email.

         Blah...okay. So Transfers are this week and that means we get the transfer call (to tell us if either of us are getting transferred) Monday night. Because its transfer week everyone's preparation day gets switched to Tuesday. So that way we all know before our pday so we can pack if we are getting transferred. But, Since we are scheduled to serve at Kirtland on Tuesday that means our Preparation day is today which means they would call us Sunday night. So we were really excited and nervous and going a little bit crazy as the time got closer and closer. Well, we finish planning, anxiously get ready for bed and start writing in our journals, Waiting any second for our District Leader to call. Now, Up till this point we always have fun trying to play the "transfer game" Where we try to predict who is getting transferred and where to. Now this would be impossible in a normal mission but as us sites sisters stay in the same area's around Kirtland we can sometimes get it right. Well There are still tons of options so its just fun to all see if we can figure out what is most likely to happen. Well we have two sisters going home this transfer and both of them are Sister Training Leaders which means they had to call two new ones. Everybody kept telling me they thought I was going to be the next Kirtland Sister Training Leader (their area is actually called Shaker Heights East but they are in charge of coordinating things at Kirtland as well as normal sister training leader responsibilities) Or "Kirtland Queens" as we all affectionately call them:) Well Of course there is no way so I just would brush it off whenever anyone said anything. It really is silly that we obsess over transfers, Its not like we can really figure it out. Its all based on revelation. Anyways. So here we are anxiously awaiting the call Sunday night and it never comes! We text our sister training leaders and our district leader who said he was still waiting on the zone leaders who said they were waiting on the AP's. We eventually got told (at 10:40pm)  we would find out in the morning..Well we tried to sleep, Got ready in the morning, headed over to district meeting, got all the way through district meeting and Elder Carr (our DL) had still not heard. Well District meeting gets over and we all get up to put our chairs away, chatting away and all of the sudden Elder Carr just looks at his phone and blurts out "Oh Sis. Newren you are getting out-zoned" We all just stop in our tracks and I think I almost fainted! Sis. Coontz and I just look at each other and I just wanted to cry. I made her give me a hug. We complained for a minute "wait, What??? I can't believe you just blurted that out! Are you SURE, let me see that text, I can't believe it. I can't leave!!!!"  yeah it was rough. And pretty hilarious. We then went out for breakfast as a district and the whole time I don't think it really hit me. It probably won't till Transfer meeting. So Sis. Coontz and I were still recovering from that shock. We came to the library to email, and somebody had texted us so Sis. Coontz was getting back to them when suddenly she looks at me with panic in her eyes, I look at the phone and President Vellinga is calling. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!! We were freaking out! He only calls if something big is happening! Well yep. Shoot, We run out of the library and answer and he asks to speak with me alone. So I take it off speaker and he says
     
      "Sis. Newren, You two have been doing amazing work out there. You are two of the finest missionaries and I really hate to split you up but I need to transfer you."

     
      "okay" (already knew that so no surprise)

     
      " I want you to be a Sister Training Leader...do you accept the call?" (Biggest shock of my life...whaaaaaaattt???? I feel like I just finished training!!!!!)

     
      " ......of course President" (AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!)
    

     "Thank you, I trust you to be a good example"

      "I will do my best President" (what am I supposed to say to that????! also....still in a bit of a stupor at this point)

      "good, Alright, Let me talk with both of you now.....Sis. Coontz I just called your companion to be a Sister Training Leader."  (she laughs and says "President I think you are just having me train Sister Training Leaders:)" Her other companion got called to be a Sister training leader too..might actually be the one I end up being with)

      "Okay, The Ashtabula East area is going to stop being Full proselyting now. We need you back at Kirtland"

    
     "okay, sounds good"
 

     " Alright, Thank you Sisters for all you do!"
 

                  And that was pretty much it! And I am still freaking out! Sigh....I know it will be good for me, I just really don't feel up to par. So pretty much the most likely option is that I will end up being the Kirtland Sister Training Leader, There is one other option but we won't find out for sure until Wednesday at transfer meetings.

     Anyways...wow. Yup, Still recovering. Now I am just praying really hard that I will live up to God's expectations.

   Well, we had an amazing week, We got to milk goats with 4 of the cutest Amish kids!!!! They were so adorable! Rebecca is 13 and was so pretty and capable, She showed us how to do it and was really good at ordering us all around! The three younger boys, Eli, Andy and Henry just stared at us mostly and eagerly crowded around us whenever we snapped a picture. They can't have pictures taken of them but they were whenever we took one of us they were all like "oooh that is a nice one!" haha, So cute!

       After Church on Sunday we had a Linger longer/potluck with the whole ward to say goodbye to the Banks, It was so bittersweet, So fun to be with everybody but so sad because we knew it was likely goodbye for us too.

       Well I need to go pack asap so I will have to talk to you later. I have no idea about what time to skype on Mothers day because it will all depend on my new ward and companion. So let me know what times would be good. I love you all! Have a fabulous week!
    

“Never assume that you can make it alone. You need the help of the Lord. Never hesitate to get on your knees in some private place and speak with Him.”

—Gordon B. Hinckley, "Stay on the High Road," Ensign, May 2004, 114

Oh..boy am I learning that this week. Change is good, change is good!

           Sis.Newren