Week 8- exchanges, fruit and veggies and transfers

You may note that Rachel Hodgson has a brace on her arm.  Her father asked about it in one of the "chat" emails and she said she would share that in the family email....and we got  NOTHING...soooo

This week we went on exchanges! Sister M went to another area with one sister and the “sister training leader”  came to our area. It was neat to see how other sisters do things. We learn a lot from exchanges. Also that night we were asked to sing at the cottage meeting- (a meeting at the president's house where new converts share their conversion stories and we invite our investigators to hear). Sister M the Samoan sisters and myself sang acapella"I need Thee every hour". It was really neat to be able to sing with such amazing sisters! But it was also kinda scary because president's wife used to sing in the Mormon Tabernacle choir! Haha

So I got a few questions to answer this week:

What is a normal day like? I'd say that we NEVER have a normal day haha but a rough outline of the schedule is: wake up at 6:30, exercise, shower, eat, personal study, companion study, 12 weeks training (which is the in field training that we do for the first 12 weeks because the mtc time was shortened) then work for a few hours (usually visiting less actives , service or tracting), lunch break, back out to visits, service opportunities, tracting and lessons, dinner break, back out to visits and lessons, home to update the area book, plan for the next day then go to sleep:)

What's my companion like: A lot like me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just where I am a bit more of a guilty conscience she is a little more care free. She had a VERY hard childhood and teenagehood, so that has shaped her into a bit of a tougher shell than me. We share EVERYTHING with each other! food, clothing (we're even the same jean size and shoe size), thoughts. It is nice to be able to be so open. We could probably read our journal entries and emails out loud to each other and not learn anything new haha:) she is a songwriter. like, going to be famous, wrote her first song at age 3 type songwriter. we take care of each other and understand each other. She is so wonderful! She actually got a blessing this week and in the blessing they said that she and I have similar strengths. even in a blessing we are compared as similar:)

What do we eat? Spinach eggs, spinach smoothies, spinach quesadillas, beans and rice, apples, carrots, we went through a small cereal phase because I just wanted milk.....weird right?...... um sometimes ramen with cheese and vegetables......... we start out the week pretty healthy, but by Saturday (especially with feeding 2 mini missionaries as well) we get down to like a few carrots and cheese puffs. we don’t even like cheese puffs. I’m not even sure that they are actually a food...... but some members gave them to us and we saved them because we knew that we'd run out of food by the end of the week. Monday is like Christmas because we get to buy more food. I have never appreciated fruit and vegetables so much in my life. I don’t think I ve ever appreciated the value of a dollar either.....or just food in general

Details of my apt: cockroaches, one bedroom, new appliances and counter tops, good storage space, the closet doors are GIANT mirrors, laundry costs like 70,000 quarters a load, and the stairs to our apt give us a good workout!

what ever happened to the investigator who was open to the gospel but living with her boy friend? she moved....and she wasnt ready to make those changes in her life yet.....super sad but hopefully the new missionaries will know how to help her.

okay, transfers happen this week! we got "the voice mail" last night. The zone leaders leave a voice mail Sunday night announcing who needs to pack their bags- Its like the Hunger games reaping! Listening as they call names one by one: "the missionaries who need to pack their bags are : elder Deane, elder Armstrong, elder Ukenio, elder Martino, Sister.......... Totally suspenseful moment .....Fisi' ahi. We are staying in Hon- West!!!!!!!!!!!! Sister M  and I were so excited! SO another 6 weeks together here:)

well Im out of time. The church is true! Heavenly Father knows us each personally and He is there to help us. ALl we need to do is ask.

Much love, and Aloha from Sister Hodgson