7/26/11

Greetings! News comes in three's.

1. Maria moved her baptism to the 30th. Boo. She wanted to be baptized on the 30th rather than the 23rd from the beginning because "30 is a better number than 23" apparently. We didn't want to push her to be baptized on a day she didn't feel good about (even if the reason is superstitious NONSENSE and she KNOWS THIS) so we changed it to the 30th. But she's solid. I am so excited for her. It's going to be the best day in the history of days!

2. Isaiah (our 8 year old deafie) and his parents are getting baptized this Saturday as well, just a few hours after Maria. They're excited and their ward has been awesome about welcoming them in. I feel so privileged to get to be a part of a family baptism, even if my part was very little.

3. I'm being transferred to Fair Oaks, which is up above Sacramento I believe. The kicker: I am shotgun training. Shotgun= neither I nor my companion were in the area for the previous transfer, so we don't know the area, investigators, or members. Training= yikes. I think they really must have some huge issue going on with the sisters if they're asking someone who's barely been out for 6 months to train a brand new baby missionary straight from the MTC. I'm going to pick my "daughter" up from the mission office tomorrow. She'll be at new missionary training, and it is SO WEIRD to me because I feel like I was JUST IN new missionary training. I'm scared. Missionaries look up to their trainers so much. I feel like I have to be the perfect missionary, which I certainly am not. But I'll try my best. President Lewis told me he felt very strongly that this is what the Lord wants so I just have to trust him. And Him.

Also, congratulations to Quinn and Mandi as well as Stacy and Brett!!!! I love you all and wish I could have been there. I was partying with you in my heart.

7/18/11

Not much to report this week. However, Maria is still on date for the 23rd--she even announced it all by herself in Relief Society yesterday. This Saturday will be the best day of my mission so far if she ends up getting baptized. We've worked so hard for this. It would be awesome to be able to see someone as wonderful as Maria receive the blessings of the gospel and be a true convert. We were also able to attend the wedding of Isaiah's parents. It was a great night, although we had the weirdest reception food. BBQ chicken, pasta, rice and beans. Yum!!! They're planning on being baptized as a family on the 30th, which will be so cool to see. I'll keep you posted. Have a great week.

7/16/11

Well, this has been a good week in Stockton. The weather has strangely cooled down a little here. We've been told not to get too comfortable because August in the valley is unbearable. But I feel like people like to scare missionaries. ANYWAY. The event of most import this week was Maria choosing a baptismal date (July 23rd). We were so excited! She seems a little unsure--she feels like she's not ready yet, although she is. So hopefully she doesn't end up pushing the date back. We're doing all we can to help her feel prepared, but it certainly didn't help when she found a documentary on netflix that ended up being extremely anti-Mormon. WONDERFUL. But we were able to address all of the issues that were brought up in the movie, most of which were 100% false. I am getting so BORED of all the anti-Mormon stuff out there. Get a life people. But other than that, life is good. Hope yours is too. Foster signing out.

Happy Fourth!

Hello world! Happy birth of AMERICA!! I am so happy to be here in America where we have AC and burgers and paved roads and Wal-marts and be-flowered baby girl headbands and FREEDOM and trashy magazines and the gospel and Abraham Lincoln and fake tans! This is the land of privilege, and it is so good to be here. Especially here in Stockton, CA. This week we have been teaching a lot. We're currently teaching an 8 year old deaf child named Isaiah. His parents are being taught by elders but they want their son to be a part of all this too and be baptized with them at the end of July, so the elders asked us to team teach the family with them. We've been teaching Isaiah for about a month and his signing level is low enough that I can teach and communicate with him fairly well in American Sign Language. Our other deaf investigator is a different story. His name is Fue (he's Hmong) and he is an extremely skilled signer. I can't understand a word he says ever so Sister Despain is pretty much on her own with him. But that's okay! She's doing great with him. We picked up another mormon.org investigator this week who more or less referred himself to us. His name is Tony, and he told us that a few years ago we wouldn't have caught him dead listening to a word the Mormons had to say, but things have changed in his life and he's ready to hear it now. We taught him lesson 1 (the Restoration) with a member last week, and it was probably the best first lesson I've ever taught. He was so ready and open. A friend gave him the Book of Mormon on CD and over the last few months he's listened to 19 out of the 23 CDs. Pretty impressive! He's very interesting. Anyway, that's all the investigators I have time to tell you about, but please have a burger and light a firework in the name of American and enjoy the 4th!