Janene
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I can't believe I have survived two weeks of not emailing you guys!
So.... I am serving on.... AN ISLAND!!!!!!!!! Woohoo :)
My companion's name is Sister (Alexandria) Cromar and we were called to serve on South Whidbey Island. But that isn't even the coolest part. They haven't had sisters here for 10-12 years, and we were the first ones called back! They do have a church building on the island so that is nice. But we get to ride the Ferry a lot, like when we need to go into town, so that is so awesome.
Map of Whidbey Island
I love it here so much. The weather is so beautiful, the trees are wonderful, it's amazing. The ward is SO nice and so kind. They take very good care of us. Groceries are hard on the island because of the import fee, so that makes our budget tough. Also our apartment doesn't have a washer and dryer so that is about $5-7 a week for laundry, but we'll make it work. I was able to buy my first rain coat so that was AWESOME :)
A typical Washington Street...Beautiful!
Okay so Tuesday was such a whirlwind. We were at the mission office until 11pm and I had been awake since 1am. I have never been more tired in my entire life. But I love my companion so much. She is 21 and from Salt Lake City. She is so inspiring, and we are a lot a like, so its really enjoyable to be together. Since the Ferry was closed we spent the night with our Sister Trainer Leaders. We took the ferry in the morning over to the island.. that was an adventure. We parked our car in the line to wait and we hadn't eaten all day since we had district meeting that morning and such. So across the street from the Ferry line is a little fish shop. Really sweet members in line in front of us bought our food for us, so that was so cool! But then as we are talking with them and waiting, the cars start driving to the Ferry. We are now running to our car, hop in, and as we are driving to the Ferry, those members who bought our food gave us our food through the rolled down car window as we drove away! It was really quite amusing.
With her companion, Sister Cromar
Then we arrived at our apartment... OH. My. Goodness. DISGUSTING. Lol it was almost laughable it was so bad. It was raaaaaaaank and nasty smelling. Trash everywhere food everywhere, dust, BUGS eating the food in the cabinets, molded bread on the counter, and molded shut drawers in the fridge. So, we left ALL of our belongings in the car and just left to do missionary work. We met with the ward mission leaders (The Svensson's, who are AMAZING) and when they heard of our situation they gave us a bag of food, a bag of cleaning supplies and drove back with us to our apartment at 9pm, helped us unload our stuff, and gave us permission to clean the next day. So we did, we cleaned ALL day and blasted our Mo Tab. It was a good bonding experience enduring that nastiness together...but it is all clean and fresh now. :) I'll send you a picture of our trash, there was like 10 bags.
That is all the trash from cleaning (but add 5 more..we weren't finished) Lol
Here is the front of our house. We live on the bottom floor, the manager is the top.
Other than that it has been great! I was able to hand out my first Book of Mormon while tracting and that was the best feeling in the world. We have a couple investigators and I love them so much. Sometimes I just want to give them my testimony so they can see how beneficial it is to know of Christ's love for them. Tracting was a good experience. Some people were rude, some people were okay, but a lot of people were polite so that was nice. I really enjoyed talking to different types of people.
Church was so good. The members are so excited to have sisters. There is so much work to do here on the island. The ward is small, and is comprised mostly of elderly people which is worrisome because in a couple years there will be no South Whidbey ward. We are really praying to find families to bring into the gospel.
Before I go I want to share a neat experience I had. One night this week I woke up at 5am very nauseous. I ran to the bathroom and just thought for sure I was going to be sick. While sitting there I said a prayer and pleaded with the Lord to heal my body, that I would not be sick, because I needed to be strong to continue the work. We could not afford to have a sick day, there is so much work to do. As I was praying I could literally feel the pains of my stomach leave my body and as I finished the prayer I felt 100% back to normal. As I went back into my room I thanked The Lord for his healing power. I know that the Lord watches and blesses his servants, my testimony really grew in the power of prayer.
Today I only have an hour of email time because of the holiday yesterday, but normally I will have 2 hours on Mondays to email. :)
The address we live at does not have a mailbox so here is the mailing address:
PO Box 1448
Langely, WA 98260
Also if you can just mail them to the mission office and the mission office will forward them that day to me, same goes for packages especially if you get worried around transfer times.
If you happen to be sending a care package anytime soon, some things I would love is MORE PICTURES, and also if you could just put some things from the pantry like, mac and cheese, or shells pasta, jello, pudding? Food is so expensive here on the island and I have to budget for laundry as well. Those are just some things from home I'd love. But the ward is really good at feeding us dinners so that has been so nice! I am loving it here. Being a missionary is SO hard, but I truly do love every minute of it. Love and miss you guys! Send the kids my love. :)
Sister Wawro
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