"Half-Way Done?!?!" (Dec 15)

 Where do I even begin. This week was pretty sweet!! On Tuesday as a district we went tracking in our area and got a few potential investigators :) and while we were standing with some of the elders, waiting for the other elders to meet up there was a woman that walks by and an elder goes to talk to her and then we introduce ourselves to her and she was like "I know you guys! I saw you at my work!" She works at Ardenes and she was working when we were there on Monday! How crazy is that?!?! And she is the only face that I remember from when we were at the mall. The Lord works in mysterious ways, that's for sure. She is super interested as well! :)

     On Thursday we had our missionary Christmas party! President and Sister Nicholas read the Christmas story from the bible and we sang songs in between and the spirit was just so strong in there! It is the coolest thing being in a room full of missionaries singing about our Savior. I loved it!!! President also surprised us by having us watch "Meet the Mormons"! That was pretty fun being able to watch that though the part about the missionary mom did leave a few people a bit teary-eyed, especially the greenies ;) hahah

    That night we met with the Emery's. Lori is a member but her husband, Martin, isn't a member but he is the coolest! We just love those two. While we were talking to them we shared a scripture with them about Jesus Christ and just bore our testimonies to them about our Savior. The spirit was very strong in that room that's for sure. Lori kept looking over at Martin while we were talking to see if he had any reaction on his face haha. Then the next night we had our ward relief society party and Martin came with Lori! He has NEVER come to a church activity. This was seriously a miracle. Thang and his mom and his son Colton even came to the party as well!!! Thang kept thanking us over and over for inviting him and his family. He loved being there!

    We met with Thang on Sunday night and while we were there he was like I have some questions for you guys and pulls out his Book of Mormon!!! He has never read on his own, EVER. We were just shocked. You have no idea how happy this made us! He is truly trying his best to become a better person and it is the coolest thing to see.

    This week I also hit my half way mark!!!! It's insane! Time is going by fast. I love being a missionary! There is no doubt about that. :) I hope you all have a great week!! Love ya all!

Love,

Sister O'Dell

1/2 way there!!!

"Elder Gregory who is on the left came out with me! He was in my MTC district. And elder whetten who is in the middle comes home with me!! and he is from Arizona too!!! :)"

"Sister Gonzalez!!!!!!!!! :)"

"Three generation picture! My momma and my baby!!"

"The three Arizonan's!!! :) Elder jones and sister waller :)"

"Sister Murphy!!!!! :)"

"Burned a skirt to celebrate my 9 months!! hahaha"

"I'm Half-Way Done?!?!" (Dec 8)

This week was transfers! I'm still with Sister Alvez and get to finish training her this transfer. :) But a few elders from my district got transferred. It's definitely hard becoming friends with someone and then them leaving and who knows if you will see them again! But it really is amazing how many people I have met so far on my mission that I just love so much!!! And I can't believe I only have 9 months left!! Time goes by so fast...!

    We did a lot of service this week cleaning and painting and what not. It's been good because a lot of the less-actives we are trying to work with don't want a message or anything but they let us help clean! :) Thang is still drinking, but not as much as he use too and he is trying to get back to rehab again. I can tell though this time around he is definitely trying his hardest to overcome this addiction so he can be a better father, and be a better person. Even though he isn't necessarily progressing in the gospel right now, I am just grateful that we have been able to help and encourage him through this whole thing.

    Have a great week and share your testimonies with everyone! Everyone needs to know that they have a Savior and a Heavenly Father that loves them so much. :) Love ya!

Love,

Sister O'Dell

Elder Fitzgerald!

"Transfers!! This is elder Gordon who was my district leader in Cardston and he is going home!!!! So crazy!!!"

"Sister Lanham! She went home too :("

"It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!!" (Dec 10)

  It is so weird seeing snow in December! haha But I love it!!! Though the cold can totally go!!! It was -22 C during this week and I thought I was going to get frost bite! But it's okay guys, I still got my toes and fingers, for now. :)

    We had exchanges with the sister training leaders this week and when we were driving to exchange back into our companionships, Sister Christensen and I got stuck in a traffic jam during a blizzard!! A drive that would normally take us about 20 minutes took us 2 hours!!!! While we were freaking out a bit we said a prayer and after that we were definitely guided to know which roads to take to make it safely back home. During the blizzard for Sister Alvez and Sister Waller they ended up losing our phone and we have been phoneless the last couple of days...Thankfully we got a new one yesterday though. :)

    We met with Jacob on Sunday and his whole family were like "where have you been all week?!" We definitely loved being loved and missed!! haha Jacob is praying about a baptismal date... :) Hopefully he gets his answer soon!! He is progressing so much, I just love seeing his testimony strengthen.

    Sunday we had dinner at a members house who cooked up a Thanksgiving dinner for me!!! My tummy was very happy that it didn't miss out on that turkey and stuffing. :)

     I hope you all have a super awesome week!!! Don't forget to pray and smile! Love ya!

Love,

Sister O'Dell

Helping put up Christmas decorations!

Companions!!

"Franny and Aleecia Irogoyen and their foster kids!"

"Sister Christensen and Sister Hansen (sister training leaders)."

"yepp..."

"yepp..."

"Elder Whetten and Elder Gregory"

"Our district!!!"

"Elder Fleshman!!!"

"Elder Bluth!!!"

"Happy Thanksgiving America!" (Nov 24)

So last week we pretty much had to drop Thang as our investigator because he just wasn't progressing and wouldn't try to not drink anymore until he got into detox. He's been trying for weeks to get in but just can't get in, it's always too full. But on Sunday he asked for a blessing and then we didn't hear from him until yesterday when he called and said he just got out of detox!!!! And he wants us to come by in a few days when he is feeling better. :) I know without a doubt how strong the priesthood is and I am so grateful that Thang had the faith to receive one!!

    We went and saw Jacob this week and he cooked for us, African style!! We had Ugale which translated means corn meal. You pick up the ugale with your hands and use it as a spoon to pick up the meat and vegetables that they cooked with it. It was so good and it was fun being able to eat with our hands for once! haha Last night he told us about how he had an elder that he was super close to in the Congo but once he got transferred it hurt him because of how close they were and he hasn't talked to missionaries since, until Sister Alvez and I! I just love Jacob, he is super awesome and we just love teaching him. He is going to be the future prophet one day ;) haha

    On Friday as a district we went out to dinner and got sushi. First time ever in my life trying sushi. It was a big a moment for me eating eel and squid and what not haha And since it is Thanksgiving this week in the states, I want to say how grateful I am for the friendships I have made on the mission with the other missionaries and with all of the people I meet here!! I am also so very grateful for Sister Alvez! I love her so much!!! It's crazy that we have only been together for only like 6 weeks and she is already one of my best friends. I am so grateful for my family, for all of their love and support and for this amazing gospel that I have in my life. I am also grateful to be serving the Lord right now. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else :) I challenge you all to think about and write down all of the things that you are grateful for and I promise you will be able to see more happiness in your life if you do so. :)

    Have a great week! Love you all :)

Love,

Sister O'Dell

"Jacob preparing our food!"

"Ugale!"

About to eat eel!

Sushi!

The elders in Sister O'Dell's district.

More elders in her district. 

Photo shoot fun!

The Calgary temple!

Eating the food Jacob made for Sister O'Dell and Sister Alvez.

"I Survived!" (Nov 17)

Well I survived this cold week! Thankfully Heavenly Father is going to bless me with warmer weather this week :)

     We had an awesome lesson with Jacob this week! We met a few times this week and taught the plan of salvation and he kept asking tons of  questions, like always! haha and at the end we were like you need to pray to know for yourself if this church is true, we can speak to you for hours, but in the end you need your own testimony. Then he said "Oh I know the Book of Mormon is true"! haha we were shocked because most of our conversation sounded differently. Now his biggest question is to know if this is the only true church in the world, but he did say he wants to get baptized if he gets an answer. :)

    On sunday we met this woman, Katie, who just walked into the church building for the first time ever! She grew up in an Athiest home and now she is dating someone who is LDS so she is curious to know what we believe in and what not. So we got to teach her the first discussion and she was super open to it all. Excited to keep meeting and teaching her!

    We met with the Pinchak family this week and I just love them! They have four kids and have been together since they were 14. They pretty much told us their conversion story and it was just so inspiring. They weren't active at all in the church but they have been coming to church now and they are working on getting sealed together as a family. :)

   I hope you all have a great week! Keep praying and smiling! Love ya!

   

Love,

Sister O'Dell

"Came to our zone training meeting and realized we all were wearing yellow! haha"

"Jacob trying to look like a model! haha"

"Yummy!"

"We got the advent calenders! Thank you Nana and Granddad for sending them!"

"Ask, and Ye Shall Receive" (Nov 10)

 This week we ended up doing a lot of service! Which is funny because earlier we had been saying how much we wanted to do service and then BAM! Service galore :) haha

    We had a lesson with Enma Thursday night  and I just love seeing her progress so much. It's so crazy to remember the first time I met her when she was crying and really sad to now being so happy. The Gospel of Jesus Christ can definitely make you happy! :) We also met with Jacob last night and after the lesson he apologized to us for being so stubborn all the time! haha But he really is awesome and it's cool to see that he is truly trying to see for himself if the church is true and not getting baptized just because his family is.

    Oh! and there is ALOT of snow outside. And it's getting colder. :( haha For those of you who haven't driven in snow before, it's scary! hahahh So please pray for us, especially for my companion who is probably scared for her life :)

    I seriously love being a missionary. It is the best thing ever! For those of you who are trying to decide if you should serve a mission or not, DO IT!!! I promise you that you will never regret serving the Lord. You will be meeting so many of your brothers and sisters and will be able to share with them the greatest thing in our lives which is the gospel of Jesus Christ!

    I hope you all have a great week! And don't forget to smile :) Love ya!

Love,

Sister O'Dell

"The kids surprised us by making us a cake!! They said they made us a cake because we are just so special :) aren't they so cute?!?!"

"Elder Zavala and Elder Fitzgerald! The Spanish elders in our district."

SNOW!