email of 12 July 2010

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my-ee biiiike :)

Big news in Torrance this week, ladies and gentleman...er, Brothers and Sisters! This week, it was determined that the Sister missionaries currently serving in North Torrance, namely Sister Molina and Sister Wilson, are the coolest, the toughest, the most amazing sisters in the California Los Angeles Mission! That's right, for the first time in the known history of the CLAM, they have made and official full-bike sisters area!!!! Yep, Sister Molina and I are now on bike full-time! And no, it's not because of an accident, or me being a terrible driver or anything of the sort! It's just that there were some cars in the mission that just had to be sold (per SLC), so there was some rearranging, and we ended up being made a bike area! It's not bad though -- there are some definite challenges, but also some definite blessings, por ejemplo:

Challenge: biking in a skirt.
Blessing: I don't have to worry about doing my hair in the morning anymore :)

Challenge: Torrance is built on a slight slope toward the west, meaning if we're biking west in the evening when the sea breeze kicks up, it's terrible!!!
Blessing: We're giong to be the fittest, tannest sisters in the mission :)

...Anyways, we're enjoying it!

This week I hit another big milestone in the mission: 1 year in the field.
Which makes 14 months in total.

Man! I can't even begin to tell you how strange that is! I don't feel like it's been that long! I don't really feel like a experienced missionary, and I don't feel like there's anyway that I'm so far down the downward slope of my time here! Have I really been out serving the Lord as a full-time missionary in California for over a year now?!?! (Ok, Mom, I can here your "YES!" already :)

It just amazes me how the time flies. Once again, I'm so grateful for this time in my life, and the great privilege it is for me to be a missionary! Thank you thank you thank you all of you for your great love and support! I wouldn't be here without you, and I'm grateful for all the sacrifice that has gotten me here. Blessings, Blessings, Blessings on all of your heads!!!!

We had an interesting experience this week of meeting a couple that was really, really concerned about our salvation, and just wanted us to come to Jesus and stop being deceived. I won't lie, sometimes it's a bit disconcerting talking to people like that, esecially when they're normal. I'm grateful that I at least know how to recognize it when the conversation turns that direction, and has no hope of being productive or spirit-filled, so that we can walk away. Those kinds of encounters do tend to stick with me for a few days though, and I think and think and think about them. Not so much being bothered, just thinking and pondering on them and my own testimony. Anyways, I had a really good personal study this morning that just again confirmed my own tesitmony and surety of this gospel, the Book of Mormon, and the great work that I'm involved in!

The church is true, and the BofM is the word of God, as is the Bible! I know it, and I'm so grateful that I do!!!!

I Love you all!!!!!
I Love being a missionary!!!!!
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Sallie