Day 17-21... God wants everyone to receive His gospel.

March 29-April 2nd, 2013

We’re at lunch at home right now, so I figured I could write you. I never realized how important mail is until I started serving a mission. Serving a mission is seriously the hardest thing—mentally, physically, emotionally. I’m starting to let myself go more and more-meaning I think less and less about myself each day. Which is good. We have so much to do here in Yucaipa [Pronounced: /juːˈkaɪpə/ ew-KY-pə)].

I found out the average weight gain is 30 pounds so that’s not so great. We do exercise 30 min a day but I can’t run for too long because I get a bad headache [Amanda has suffered from chronic daily headaches, at times migraines, for about 16 months now].

My companion is pretty quiet, and until yesterday, it made me really sad because she never talks to me. But we talked a little bit and I guess she is just quiet. She just doesn’t seem super excited to be here or to be my companion (she’s been out 15 months), so that has been hard to deal with. After we met with the bishop yesterday (who is awesome and very enthusiastic), I just felt a lot better. And we had some good lessons yesterday. I’m still learning how to teach better. We have a lot of stubborn PMF (part member families). A lot of people are just stubborn and prideful—but when you talk to them, you know they know it, but they won’t admit it. We tracted into a home on Wednesday. It is an older lady. The house was full of cigarette smoke and she said she bought it in 1984… and it hasn’t been cleaned since then. I am definitely being humbled. God wants everyone, all His children to receive His gospel, even the people that have disgusting houses. So that’s my job! And we taught Lupe—she’s a 23 year old college student. I think she knows and she has the desire to know but is super shy with sharing her feelings. So we don’t know how to best teach her until we know what she’s thinking. We often visit older divorced or widowed women and share a message or talk. Those ladies just need someone to talk to!

So now it’s later today. We just got home a bit ago. I wish my companion would talk to me. After good lessons or experiences with people we meet, she doesn’t say anything. It’s like she has zero enthusiasm for the work or if she does, she’s certainly not showing it. I’m trying not to focus on it. But it’s hard being around someone [like that] 24/7. I don’t understand and I don’t know what to do to help her. I think she’s just so close to going home that she can’t be excited about still being here. It’s hard. Please continue to pray for me.

Also, In July, I could be in the Riverside, Redlands, or Carlsbad Mission. A big portion of our mission is going to the Redlands mission and only the Murrietta area is going to the Carlsbad mission. That one is close to the coast, so I kinda want to be in that mission.

My dog bite isn't infected. Did I tell you everyone in Yucaipa has dogs? It's RIDICULOUS!

Love,
:) Sister Amanda Abby Chase