~We are assigned to the Fullerton 6th Ward, Spanish speaking~

This was some of the fun at our Fullerton 6th Ward Christmas Party on Saturday, December 17th:

Tons of food! So much food, I couldn't even take a small sample of everything and I still ate too much!
Just part of the party. We had a very good turn out.

The happy Missionary Couple!

Our wonderful Bishop: Obispo Disner and his wife Evy

Our wonderful Ward Mission Leader, Lehi Rosas, wife and daughter.

The Perez Sisters sang "All I Want For Christmas is YOU!"

The Callejas Family promised to come to the ward party and sit with us; but when they didn't show up we took the leftover cake I made for the party to their home after church on Sunday. They were VERY surprised!! We sure enjoyed our visit. They are a wonderful family and she promised to help me with my Spanish and I promised to help her with her English.

~* Our first baptism was Sunday, December 18, 2011*~

Martin Santana was baptized by Elder Larsen

His beautiful daughter is a member.

That evening we attended the Santa Ana Stake Christmas Program and it was a beautiful way to begin the holiday week. They had beautiful scenery, costumes and singing. I felt like I was there:

~~* AND THEN THERE ARE THE WONDERFUL ELDERS IN OUR ZONE *~~

Elder Larsen and Elder Tinti are Elders in the Fullerton 6th Ward that we are assigned to as activation missionaries. Elder Tinti is our District Leader.



All the missionaries in the California Anaheim North-East Zone:
Our first Zone Meeting, December 21, 2011

Don't know them, but you can see they are very entertaining by my big smile!
More special missionaries including our District Leader and his companion.
Elder Larsen at our Ward Christmas Party.

WE have our MISSION...and it is CALIFORNIA ANAHEIM

We love serving with President and Sister Bowen.


And we were so happy to see our old friend Bobi Rush is the new missionary serving as the Office Secretary.
Some of the beautiful sisters serving in the Anaheim Mission: Sisters Anderson, Rush, Ray and Lamb ... I will get Sister Crosby in a future pictures.

Our Last 2 Days at the MTC

Elder Dan and Sister Debbie Johnson, a great couple from Huntington Beach and the parents of Emily Nedry, became our good friends during our stay. We spent alot of time together our last Thursday and Friday at the MTC. We would joke that we must be stalking each other. We even ended up at the same pick-up spot for transportation. We were going to the Church Office Building and they were going to the Salt Lake Airport for their flight to their mission in Berlin, Germany.

New BEST FRIENDS in our training group

Our first week at the MTC we were organized into groups to learn from Preach My Gospel and be able to teach investigators: This is our GROUP:

A wonderful trip to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on November 6, 2011 with Elder and Sister Davis. It was a special Veteran's Day Program


Elder Brian and Sister Karen Davis called to serve in the Baltic States Mission:

Elder and Sister Call (us) at our Preach My Gospel Group will all our supplies:

Elder Steve and Sister Sue Hackett now serving in the New York New York South Mission:

Elder Dale (filled with love and laughter) and Sister Lynn Hancock, called to serve in the Virginia Richmond Mission:

Our "rowdy group" with our darling morning teacher for Preach My Gospel, Sister Sarah Zitting, and her fiance Josh. This was Friday after our last class with her. Elder Hancock brought a lot of excitement to the group teasing our teacher about Josh and how he better get a ring on her finger before he loses her. I am sure the Holy Ghost will be a strong influence in this fine couple's lives.

Our Two Weeks at the MTC

We had the best 2 weeks ever at the Provo Missionary Training Center! Everyone should have this experience, REALLY!! The first week was Preach My Gospel training with the best teachers and fellow missionaries that I could have ever hand-picked. I felt the Spirit so strongly that first week especially in the practice sessions with volunteer investigators. Other spiritual experiences were the Devotionals, the Fireside and the final testimony meeting we had for those of us who received language training. Here are the wonderful teachers that truly molded "missionary-me "
Sister Sarah Zitting Bro. Whitting

Our room at the MTC was so beautiful and the view was spectacular!  ... no not the parking lot!  ...The Provo Temple and the mountains!!  My Spanish teacher, Hermano Gustavo Barrios, was the best!  He was very thorough with his teaching of the Spanish language, and very kind with all my mistakes.  Sister King substituted two times and her sweet spirit brought me a feeling of self-esteem that I really needed.  The most fun part of our two weeks at the MTC was seeing all the beautiful young missionaries.  They were all so kind to us:  opening doors and teaching us how to do the laundry in the dark.  Two special missionaries that we looked up there were Elder Ewell and Sister Argueta.  We even sat with Elder Ewell and his companion at the Devotional the second week.  Others we saw were Elder Duerhing and Sister Jarvie.  Those pictures are on my cell phone and I can't figure out how to upload them.  The first week was Preach My Gospel with the most spiritual experiences I have ever had with the most wonderful fellow missionary couples (that will be explained more in my FRIENDS at the MTC post).  The second week was spent learning from the best of the CES teachers and then 2 days in Salt Lake learning about PEF and Yount.  The view from  the Joseph Smith Memorial building was spectacular!  The Church Office Building was where we learned about the Education Mission that we are very excited to share with our friends in the California ARCADIA mission... Well, that is what it started out as with 5 Spanish speaking stakes, but by the time we left and were home the money was reduced and only the Santa Ana South Stake will receive the blessings of the Yount Educational Fund. 

The Missionary Training Center

Sisters Forever! "I smile when I think that God made us sisters and I laugh when I know she can't do anything about it."
After spending some time with Jared and Joan we packed up on Halloween for the MTC, "dressed as missionaries" and ready for our great adventure.
Look at those heavy bags! But then we arrived and soon discovered our bags weren't so much. After all we had only packed for 2 weeks.
We are ready!
The world is a beautiful place, especially when it is Autumn in Utah, and WE are going to the MTC!

more pictures

Tiffany is also a great cook.
LaVerne brought the best salad!
Janice and Gary brought delicious strawberries and grapes.
Our talks at church went over time and we were the only speakers! I talked about Seeking the Face of the Lord and Jeff talked about the 8th Article of Faith.

Farewell Family and Friends

Family gatherings always include food.We have the best cooks who share their talents.

Celebrating with Family In Utah

Oooh! Those donuts are GOOD!
Vicki Givens, Linda Jill Bonella and Eileen Cloward
Wendy and Jon Casperson
Ray and Linda Jill Bonnella
Joan Zetterquist and Vicki Givens
Robert and Linda Westover
Jim and Nan Hancock came all the way from Idaho.
Our wonderful hosts: Bill and Lisa Wegener
Our surprise guests: Curt and Angie Cummings are our good friends who moved from Costa Mesa to Utah. They joined us for a walk down memory lane before their date night at the temple.
Bill and Lisa Wegener hosted a family gathering in their beautiful home for family and friends on Saturday 29 October 2011 at 2 pm. We all loved the delicious chocolate-iced chocolate donuts, grapes and cider! We had so much fun laughing and visiting. Thank you Bill and Lisa for the hospitality, and thanks to everyone for coming. I'm still smiling about our visit.