Sister Kellie Bonner

Hola Family!

To answer a few ?'s first...

We are able to drive a car every other day, and our off day we have to walk or try to have member present lessons so we can get rides. But, we found 3 bikes from the ward and mission office so this week we will start biking which will be nice!

I have learned a lot of spanish already and everytime I hear or learn a new word, I write it down so I can remember it. One of the Hermanas we live with marked everything in the apartment with a sticky note with the spanish and english word on it and that has been fun!

The weather has been SO hot! I believe it has been in the 100s this past week with who knows what humidity! I don't think I am quite used to the humidity. It is weird being outside at 9pm and still be sweating! We learned really quickly to wear sunscreen!

Yes and no I am busier than I thought I would be. We are told to not really go "tracting" too much anymore because it is ineffective
and we could be using our time better, but since we arn't in utah, and members and people are more spread out, It takes time going from house to house for lessons and visiting and such...We found 8 or 9 potential investigators this week which is awesome! It is hard with all of our progressing investigators, because we give them commitments and know the blessings they will get from it, but they still don't change!

Our ward is really small and we are trying to build it up with strong members and trying to find families, but all of the people are gems. There are a few members who treat us very well!

The first night in, since there were so much people we stayed at member homes nearby. Then the next day we had delicious french toast at Pingrees home and headed to the church for transfers. I believe his home is just a few minutes away from the mission office. The elders live a few miles away from us. They are english speaking. But we are the only 2 english speaking companionships in our zone...so that shows what the main language is in our area! My two companions have been together for 3 transfers now. Sister Carter came out in april and Sister Jacobson has been her trainer since. Sister Carter is waiting for her visa to Australia. They have also been in this area since then. We have not ridden the bus yet, but Im sure we will. We have been getting some member referrals, we found a few people from walking on the streets and taught a few, when we arent busy we go contacting on Heights Blvd. Which is right by our apartment and try talking to people. 

Ok, I hope that answered most of the questions.If not let me know!

I have never had so many bug bites in my life! And they are huge!

I recited the 1st vision memorized for the first time last week! It was amazing the spirit was very strong!

I had my first real Bar-B-Q on thursday! A member took us there for lunch, it was devine! I have had all different types of food here! We have suprisingly eaten at a lot of members houses, nothing too crazy yet! But...EVERYONE will have avacados and tomatoes on everything or on the side...haha so I may come home eating those two foods.

I have always wanted to hear..."y'all come back now, ya hear?" I haven't heard that yet, but I have heard, "Y'all be safe now, ya hear?" haha it was so funny! I thought I would never hear that!

And it is true, everyone will say, do you want a coke? meaning a pop or soda.

Yesterday we were in a members car and it was 103 degrees outside. It started to rain a few minutes later and in less than 5 minutes the temperature went down to 85 degrees. I don't know if it was 100% accurate but it was pretty interesting!

Miracles happen everyday out here!

This is probably going to be the biggest one that has happened on the mission so far...

So on saturday we were at the church for a ward breakfast and after couldn't get a ride anywhere so we decided to walk all day in the very hot weather. We walked about a mile to a less active members home and he wasn't there but we met 3 people on the way. We decided to walk back to our apartment but it was about 7 miles away. After about 3 we took a break in a restruant and realized we can't walk that long in this heat. We called our Hermanas, all our ward members, basically anyone who could pick us up and nobody answered their phone. So we decided to pray to know what to do and somehow find a ride home. And to be safe, to be honest we weren't in a good part of town...like at all and we were a tad bit scared. A few minutes later a taxi shows up...we were like, oh my gosh! Thank you! It turns out it was picking someone up...so then we tried to find a bus route. We found one, waited over 1/2 hour and figured out it wouldn't be coming for a while. So we decided to just start walking. After a few blocks we started getting sick feelings, like we shouldn't be in this area. We see a few cop cars pass us and a scary looking man just starting at us down the street, so we cross the street, the cop car pulls a U turn which is now behind us. We get to the side walk and start walking close together. The cop car makes another U turn and is driving towards us, they pull over and we see that there are two women cops in the car. They pull over, roll down their window and say,"are you ladies lost, you shouldn't be in this part of town." We tell them our situation and how we can't find a ride home and we were just going to walk...."get in the car" they said. Long story short, those two women cops were a huge answer to our prayers! They said that they were driving down the road and saw us on the opposite side of the street. They knew we were out of place and decided to pull over and help us out. So I can now say that I have gotten in a police car as a missionary... there was nothing scary or strange going on at the time, but I think if we had kept on walking things would not have been safe and we would have gotten fried skin! Also if if hadn't been TWO WOMEN police, we would NOT have been able to get a ride!

no need to be worried, we are safe, and I am glad we had the spirit to tell us to pray and cross the street other wise all of that wouldn't have happened!

So lesson learned.

1. Pray for help. Heavenly father does answer you and he is ready to help in mysterious ways you just have to ASK. He is also very clever and funny! We were not expecting a cop car!

2. Listen to the spirit, it is trying to keep you save and out of harm.

3. Wear sunscreen, even if you want to get a tan, you will still get fried...

I don't think I will ever forget that day...it showed us all that god is trying to keep us safe and he really know all of our needs and what is best for us!

Well I think that is it for now! We are going into the city today! Well, I think to the galleria...so basically the city! I love you all! Thanks for all the support and love you have shown me! Talk to y'all next week! Love Sister Bonner