Ni Hao

Hey Everyone!

This has been an exciting week! First of all, I've been learning some Chinese. Like Hello is "Ni Hao" and it's pronounced "knee-how." Sister Lee is so cool. She also wrote my name in Chinese for me. Her English is really good too and we do language study every day so I get to help her learn new words and stuff. It's fun. 

Another exciting thing is that the Idaho Boise Mission is being split into 3 separate missions on July 1st! There will be the Idaho Nampa Mission on the west, the Idaho Boise Mission in the middle, and the Idaho Twin Falls mission east of that. So eventually we're going to find out which mission we are getting assigned to! There will be 3 new mission presidents and around 200 missionaries in each mission. The Lord is hastening his work! This is an exciting time! 

We also found 4 new people to teach this week! We fasted and prayed that we would find those who are searching and that we can help learn about Jesus Christ. I know that fasting and praying works. The Lord keeps His promises. As we do what he asks, he blesses us. It's as simple as that. 

You are all awesome! I would love some letters or emails please!!! Love you all! :)

Sister B 

"Be More Persistent than the Avon Lady" -Elder Holland

Hello!!

Today was transfers! They seem to come faster and faster every time! I'm with Sister Lee from Taiwan now and still in Boise South. She's super sweet! Sister Houtz went to Nampa South with Sister King - my companion before her!

Last Monday we went to Lucky Peak with Elizabeth and Robert! We took some funny pictures. We taught a family for FHE and we showed the 9 year old a picture of Lehi's Dream and he said "I know that one! It's with the rod that leads to the magic fruit tree!" haha (1 NE 8). 

I learned how to tat this week! Like I can do it well now. It's like making lace. I want to get really good at it so I can pass it on because it's a dying art. 

We saw some miracles this week! First of all, Sara is out of the hospital. She was on a respirator for like 20-something days. It's a miracle that she can breathe on her own now and she is home and she is quitting smoking. She said they disgust her now. Another miracle - one morning we were trying to contact a widow lady and she wasn't there but we met her less-active great-granddaughter who walked by. She's 21, has 2 kids, and is divorced. Some people experience everything so fast. She's so sweet. She's a BSU student. It was cool to meet her and we invited her back to church. But while we were talking to her, this other member came us in her car and said hi to us and told us she knew people we could try to teach. We ended up getting a new investigator! 

Have a great week everyone!! 

In case you didn't know, I love letters. Like I could never ever have too many ;) haha love you all!

Sister B 

The Wallers! They go home in March :(

Just a day in the mission office. haha

SNOW!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello!

 

Last P-day was fun. We went around taking pictures! We also got the car washed and serviced. That was fun. I also bought some fried chicken at WINCO. Good times.

 

We got a referral on Tuesday saying this man was taught in Washington and has questions. We contacted him and he told us he didn't have the heart to tell his LDS friend he's not interested. Sad when that happens. But we were able to invite him to read the Book of Mormon and ask God if it is a message from Him.

 

We went on exchanges on Wednesday. Sister Houtz went to a different part of Boise and I got Sister Jardine from Caldwell. We had a lot of fun. It's always good to learn from different companions. We invited one of our investigators to read the Book of Mormon and other less-actives to go to church. It was great.

 

I did some of my family history on Saturday and it was super fun. I could only do it for an hour but I could have sat there all day. Go to familysearch.org and see what you can find about your ancestors!

 

We spoke in 2 different wards on Sunday! We both just used the same talk twice. It was kind of weird because I felt like I was repeating myself, but it went well.

 

Thanks for all the love! Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Letters are always appreciated of course :)

 

<3 Sister B

TANGO'S! Our favorite place!

BSU! Now, I just gotta get on the smurf turf.

For some reason I have to do this in front of everything.

Me and Abe. BFF's.

Awuh ;)

Like I said...

We got the same style :)

I think it's obvious why this is funny.

Library!

Temple!

My adorable companion!

The car wash makes cool colors

3 SMILES. Oh Idaho license plates.

or...the Book Of Mormon...I've heard it both ways.

Why did the chicken cross the road? To meet the sister missionaries! Lame I know ;) haha

When will the Lord come again? "Probably during the Super Bowl" -President Joseph Fielding Smith"

HOLA!! 

This last week was full of awesome things!

On P-day we finally got to play volleyball! There were at least 50 missionaries there. We had 2 courts and 8 teams and we'd take turns. It was really fun. Oh, and we had a miracle happen. So we went to Winco before we played volleyball and we met a member couple there who have a grandson serving in Taiwan. They said they can't send him things very often so they wanted to help us. So they gave us $20 and said "go buy something fun." What nice people! We decided that muffins were fun. They we just put all our groceries together, had them take off the $20 and then split the rest. We ended up only have to spend 12 dollars each on groceries! We got 14 cents back. Now, that is significant because after that we decided to use my Burger King gift card which has $10 on it and our order came out to $10.14! I love when things work out like that. :) 

On Tuesday we went to the Boise Temple! That always boosts me up spiritually! It's so peaceful there. After that we met this lady who served in WWII. She had awesome stories and she looks so good for her age! 

At dinner on Thursday there was a kid there who lives in my old area but is friends with a kid in my new area. My areas are so close that I see people from my old ones all the time! The kid's name is Ammon and he told this story about when he was on the track team and he ran the 800 and he got last place every time. Except one time he "almost got second to last." bahaha We thought he was going to say he almost got first. 

This week was full of apostles! We got to hear from Elder Ballard and Elder Christofferson on Saturday. They spoke to the missionaries and they took the time to shake everyone's hand! We also heard from a member of the presiding bishopric and from 3 seventies. We got to sit up front because we're sisters. It was cool to be so close to them! The spirit was so strong. They counseled us to turn our missions over to the Lord. On Sunday we got to hear from Elder Ballard again at the Boise South Stake Conference. He challenged us to look at our lives and see if anything is amiss and fix it now. He said, "There's no time to wast time." 

Please pray for the people we are teaching! A lot of them have been sick lately. Thanks!

Love you all! Have a great week! Please write me if you can! 1111 S. Cole Rd Boise, ID 83709. 

Sister Bishaw 

bahaha.

SNOW!!

Me being Sister Anderson at the capitol building. I bet you didn't know my previous comp was a senator! 

We pretty much run the place ;)

She's a pretty cool leader :) 

haha!

They let us sit in their seats! It's the people's house :) 

I'm struggling to think of a title this week...

Hello! 

So last Monday we went to the senior singles Family home evening again. We had a testimony meeting afterwards. It was so cool to hear everyone's stories and how they came to know that the gospel was true. I learned that everyone has been through something difficult that has changed them and that has made them stronger. Even if it caused them to fall away for a time, they have come back and they are stronger now. The Atonement of Christ is real. People can change with God's help. God's way is the way to true happiness. 

On Wednesday we had dinner with Sister Poe. She grew up in the church and eventually became "very disenchanted" and had her name removed from the records. She's in her 60s now and she was rebaptized almost 3 years ago and she was taught by sister missionaries. She's the coolest lady. She makes us feel right at home. 

On Thursday we found out that someone we visit is in the hospital. She has COPD and she had to have a tube put down her through to help her breathe. We went to visit her on Friday and it was just really sad to see. She's totally awake but she can't talk. We told her to keep fighting. We heard she was put in a nursing home. But we started teaching her friend. She really likes when we visit with her and talk about the gospel. We got her scriptures and pictures of Christ. She's so sweet. 

This weekend was tough for us. So many of our appointments got cancelled and one of our investigators told us that she doesn't believe in Christ. It was a trying time. But we learned that we just need to keep a positive attitude and turn to the Lord when we don't know what to do. 

Thanks for all the prayers! Love you all!! 

<3 Sister Bishaw 

SHOUT OUTS!

-HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO TOMMY WYMAN! Write me please!!! :)

There were cop cars outside our apartment this morning! Don't worry parents, nothing exciting happened. 

We put this up in our church buildings! haha

I found Thor in Boise!

"My eye is leaking"

Hey Everyone!

So last P-day was super fun. We went to the Capitol building and took awesome pictures. There are more but they are on Sister Houtz's camera and it is dead. So something to look forward too. :) They told us it was "the people's house" so we got to walk around and sit in the Senator's seats!

Then we went shopping and I for new boots! At payless for $35 marked down from $60. And they are really comfortable! Score!

That night we got to go to the senior-singles family home evening at the church. It was the best thing of my life. This one man sang just for me and Sister Houtz and I was almost crying it was so sweet. They just go there to make friends because a lot of them are lonely and just want someone to reach out to them. 

On Wednesday we met Elizabeth's friend, Robert who is also Dutch and he's agnostic. He was super funny. He invited us to fly his stunt kites! 

We also saw Tammy who is friends with an LDS lady we know. She asked for her own set of scriptures so she could read them every day! She has so much faith, she's awesome!

On Thursday I finally got to meet Sonia. She is hispanic and I can't even describe how awesome she is. Let's just say she prays to the forces of the universe. I love her. I also met a 7th day adventist who is married to a Mormon. He thinks both churches are right but he doesn't want to be baptized LDS because he thinks God would be mad at him for going back on his 7th day advent baptism. It was a very interesting conversation. But he read the book of mormon every week. 

On Friday we had a couple miracles. First, someone came over and fixed our dryer! No more hanging my clothes all over the apartment! haha. And another was when we were contacting a referral. We prayed in the car that it wouldn't be awkward and then it totally wasn't! His friend answered the door and said he wasn't home but we gave him our number because the referral guy is interested. 

We spoke in church again on Sunday - different ward this time. We spoke with the high councilman and he said that we inspired him to give a different talk than the one he prepared! He talked about how we don't have to be perfect to be disciples of Christ. We just have to be committed to trying and repenting daily. We have to let Christ clean us up and believe that he can do it. You can never sink lower than the light of Christ's atonement shines (Elder Holland). 

Here's a cool quote I heard on Sunday "Life and death is only an illusion. In the end there is only life. -Joan of Arc. 

Today we woke up ate quarter to 5 and went to IHOP to say goodbye to my former companion, Sister Anderson. She is on her way back to Georgia today. She's sick and there are too many tests they have to do for her to stay. She was going home in 4 weeks anyway so it's not that sad, but we will miss her. We all followed her to the mission office for her final interview with President. It was funny because we were all in there when the office missionaries came at 9 and they were like "what are all these mission cars doing here before the office opens?" hahah good times. 

Thanks for all the love and support! love you all!

Sister Bishaw 

PS I forgot to explain the title - I learned that I have a clogged tear duct. So my eye has been crying since yesterday. It's weird but everything should be okay. lol 

I thought Kim would like this :)

That's my companion!

The Senate

Front row seats!

Check out my BSU bracelet!

The Boise Capitol Building!

Boise liberty bell??

it was a little bit cold...haha

Cool Ceiling!

Pretty official

"Elders! This guy has jumper cables!"

Hello All!! 

This was an eventful week in Boise South :). 

So on Monday I was super super tired because I stayed up way too late packing. We had a dinner appointment and the poor lady forgot we were coming but she made us something real quick anyway. What a nice lady! They were a cool couple who had cool stories. They both converted to the church in college in Idaho. 

On Tuesday we had District Meeting. We have a really awesome district so we had lots of fun. We even went around and said what our favorite super heroes are. I said the Hulk because deep down he's really a good guy ;). After the meeting we went to go to lunch and Elder Nelson and Elder Flake's car wouldn't start. It was freezing out and their car is up to like 50,000 miles. So we're all like "What do we do?" No one had jumper cables so we asked them if they knew anyone who lived near the church. Then Sister Houtz just starts running and as her companion I follow her. We ran to the house next door and asked the guy who lived there if he had jumper cables. He said yes and as he was getting them we went to tell the Elders we found some. We yelled "Hey Elders! This guy has jumper cables!" Then they all start laughing! Later we found out that Elder Nelson had just finished saying a prayer when we yelled to them. haha! So they had the faith and we did the works. :) 

By Tuesday night Sister Houtz and I were getting pretty sick so we stayed home. On Wednesday our colds were really bad so we went to the mission office to get Priesthood blessings and then went home and slept all day. The blessings said that we would get better quickly so that we could do the Lord's work. And now we are better! Wednesday was the only day we stayed home. 

On Friday we washed a dog for this lady! She is in a wheelchair so it's hard for her to wash her service dog, Holly. It was a pretty fun service project! 

On Saturday we visited Sister Healy from my old area in Boise West! It was really good to see her! That night I also met this couple that is obsessed with Twilight. They had posters all over there living room. Awesome. 

We spoke in one of our wards on Sunday. I talked about making Christ the center of our lives. As we do our best to be like him and make small improvements every day we will find joy and see and miracles. We also met this lady named Ann who is probably in her 70s and she is coming back to church! I love her so much already and I only met her once. The Atonement is real. God wants us all to come back now matter how far away we've strayed. We also met another lady who has been excommunicated but wants to be rebaptized! We were able to testify to her of the power of the Atonement. Anyone can change and do anything with the Lord's help. 

We also were told that Elder Ballard of the 12 apostles is coming to the Boise South stake for a special stake conference in February! We also get a meeting with a surprise apostle just for us missionaries. We're excited!

Love you all!!

Much Love from the South Side,
Sister B 

Dinner sign up sheet...we thought we were pretty clever ;) 

My January planner...did I already send a picture of it? 

Sister Houtz!