11/23-11/29

Hello, Hello My Favorite Humans! :)

Alright, so basically the world continues to become the smallest of places. Heavenly Father is definitely in charge and I'm so grateful He is! My new companion's name is Sister Jesse Holmstead, and she is from Middleton, ID! :) We know so many of the same people! Her old bishop was Chris White! She grew up with them and also she grew up and knows a lot of the Middleton basketball/ volleyball players that I grew up competing against! So crazy! There are a lot of other connections and people we know, so it's been such a blast. :) She's hilarious and I can tell we will be great friends!!! I'm SO sad I don't have more time, I wish I could be her companion for longer! Funny thing, we must have been oblivious to each other, because she graduated the same year, went to BYU Provo the same time as me and we worked in the MTC Cafeteria the same time as well! It took us both getting called to Bakersfield, CA to know each other! 

Well this week was completely insane! I felt like we were running like mad women trying to get everything in. We had such an amazing week. Tuesday we went to transfer meeting, bittersweet, because Sister Long and I separated, but SO amazing because the testimonies that were born were SO amazing. I needed each one of those testimonies. 

The rest of the week we had such great lessons with Sondra. She is ON FIRE. She is facing a lot of opposition from others but is staying so strong. She has been clean from cigarettes for over a week! Same with her husband! So amazing! One of the lessons we had with them Brooke and Cody came! Sondra begged us to move up her date to December 12th, so we did! :) She is SO set on being baptized that day. We will be pretty busy these next two weeks making sure she receives all of the lessons! She and Mike went to a church bookstore in town and she got a bunch of stuff for understanding scriptures, marking them and studying them! She told us she is SO excited to become a Mormon! :) She says, "if people only knew what it was all about. People judge too quickly on the rumors they hear." She's amazing! They came to church this Sunday and loved it! Sister Holmstead gave an AMAZING talk about reading and studying the scriptures. Sister Holmstead knows her scriptures soo well and it is amazing to see her teach. SHE IS POWERFUL. I've learned so much from her this past week! I'm excited to see what these next few weeks bring. Learning never ceases! It's amazing!

Brooke also came with us to a lesson with Brian. Brian's doing well, still struggling with keeping commitments. We are trying to help him come along!

Thanksgiving was so much fun! Mary Martin was home alone for Thanksgiving because she had to stay and work black Friday stuff, so she drove us up to the Rudd's for Thanksgiving! It was a blast. I felt like I was home haha. So much fun with the Lindley's, Huffaker's and the Rudd's and their family. I'm so grateful for this gospel and for all that I've been given!

We met a few times with Sholanda and her husband was in town and sat in the lessons!!! We are hoping to see a big change in their family as they apply the teachings of the gospel. Sholanda and little Dwayne came to church! Janessa Haney and her two boys went to the lessons with them this week and they are THE BEST! We asked Owen (6 years old) how he liked church and he said, "It's AWESOME!" hahaha I love that little boy. He's such a great example. After Sacrament Meeting was over he asked his mom if he could invite Dwayne to stay for classes the second hour, he did and Sholanda and Dwayne stayed! Miracles! It was perfection. 

This week was great! We are seeing so many miracles everyday. I'm sad that I don't have time to include everything. Everyday I'm overcome with gratitude for the love my Heavenly Father has for me and for all of His children. It is truly humbling being in His service and seeing His hand constantly involved. We're all interwoven in the great tapestry of the Creator! I LOVE THIS WORK.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! :)

Love,

Sister Loar

xoxo

A cute dog! :)

The Perry's built this legit train track in their garage! SO LEGIT. It's like a little tiny village, details and all. 

We got to take Sister Matepule out for a few hours before her flight home to Sydney, Australia and it was THE COOLEST EXPERIENCE. She used to be an STL and she was SUCH an amazing missionary. We went and contacted people at the park and it was POWERFUL with us three together. Teaching was sooo amazing with them! Such a cool experience. I LOVE IT. :)