How do you say nice things to a boy?

Funniest thing that was said to us is this title! This recent convert who is 11 called us while we were figuring out where to go next. She wanted Boy Advice from 2 girls that can't date!!! HAHAHAHA, we couldn't stop laughing for a solid 15 minutes, and then it was the occasional chuckle.

Had our first District Meeting since transfers, and we have 14 people in our district...That is HUGE!!! Sister Johnston and I are the only one's in a duo, everyone else is a trio. But it was fun seeing everyone get to know each other, and bond. I think it is going to be a good District.

I am doing pretty good, I only broke down once this week! And it was on exchanges, so Sister Morrell thought it was her fault that I was so stressed...I had to explain to her that I haven't really identified my direct point of my anxiety, but it wasn't her. I am starting to feel more comfortable in my area, and I am getting a good idea on who the members are.

We had the opportunity to go to a Cub Scout Campout and do a little devotional on Service...reminded me of Girls Camp (sorry if I have offended anyone with that comment, never had boys in my family, so didn't have anything else to compare it to). We got 3 Breakfast burritos that morning (never had so many breakfast burritos before in my life until I came to Texas), and we came home smelling like campfire, I loved it:) Later that night was the Womens General Conference, and I loved how it was focused on the Temple. I pretty much cried when that girl in the video was saying that she did her mom's baptism after she died from cancer. I also need to print off President Uchtdorf's talk, "Blessings are being poured onto us like rain, if we close our umbrellas we can enjoy the rain".

R: He came to church on Sunday (2nd hour), but stayed for the rest of the meeting. Found out from his Fellowship that his Green Card is expiring in December and he has no job. The problem is that we have no Employee Specialist since she moved, our ward is really struggling. But he still wants to be baptized...

J and K: K is loving us coming over. He loves the Book of Mormon, he is in Ether, and we can see him being baptized soon. J got a better job, that pays better too, so she will be more focused on paying attention during our visits. She isn't reading the Book of Mormon, so we invited her to read wherever she left off (1 nephi 5).

P and Pr: Our new investigators who are scheduled to be baptized on October 18!!! P came to church 2 weeks ago by himself and explained that he wanted to go to a church that won't judge him. Pr is his 14 year old daughter that sat in on the lesson of the Restoration. P is loving the church so far, but Pr hasn't been yet, so we may have to push her baptism back a week...

In Relief Society on Sunday, we talked about Elder Holland's talk on Discipleship...but I just refer it to the 'Mashed Potato' talk. The greatest insight I received on that talk was that everyone is going to get that 'mashed potato' moment in their life. Whether it be on a mission, at work, or at school. We need to have the courage to stand up for our faith. But we also need to have the charity and love like the Savior had for those who throw the 'mashed potato'.

I love you all so much, and I love receiving your letters! Have faith in our Savior, because He has faith in you

Sister Foster

 This is Sister Johnston and I on The boardwalk, yep...that is my view outside my apartment.

 These are boots that we saw last P-Day, $220!! Much cheaper than the last boots:)
(NOTE FROM MOM...glad to see she hasn't gotten over her shoe obsession...:/  )

 Do you need Selfie Defense? Prevent those photo bombers!!! KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD!!!!!

We had the most amazing experience of going to a Cub Scout Campout and do a little devotional on Service:) First time with any cub scout thing, and loved it! Reminded me of Girls Camp.

                           Our view at 6:30 am. Amazing!  ALMOST makes it worth it to be up!

 Our ward mission leader has baby kittens and they like to live in my bag during meetings!! I counldn't get to my scriptures so Sister Johnston reached into her bag without looking to get hers and screamed because there was one hiding in hers too! They laughed pretty hard at us!!

                                  The sister missionaries in my district. Don't we look stylin'?

Me and Sister Johnston!

Transfer Week

Well, I made it to my 2nd Transfer* insert round of applause*! I can't believe that tomorrow(Tuesday) marks my 2nd month out on my mission! I can't believe Sister Hansen is HOME! Her homecoming isn't until October 12...she was so mad when she heard that from her mom. When Sister Hansen's death date came, that was the same day as my therapy session so I just went down with her. HARDEST. THING. EVER. I cried so much that day that it isn't even funny yet. It didn't even help that I was in charge of the phone now, that thing alone I think is causing all of my Anxiety. I never thought I would hate phones until I came here... but it has gotten a little bit better.

My new companion is.............................SISTER JOHNSTON!!!! She came from the beautiful State of UTAH, from Cottonwood:) She has been out on her mission for 9 months, and this is her 2nd area...yep. She spent half of her mission in 1 area. She is so great, she wants to help me get to know everyone better by starting fresh. I think we are going to have a beautiful companionship.

Don't get me wrong, I will miss Sister Hansen, heck she is all I talk about most times ("Sister Hansen told me to do it like this..., Sister Hansen would..., I remember when Sister Hansen..."), but Sister Johnston is cool too.

We have had 4 investigators come to church this week(Yesterday), 1 of them just came out of the blue and said he wanted a church that wouldn't judge him. PERFECT! Join Ours! His name is P, and he wanted us to come by his house to teach him and his daughter!!!!! YAY:) R was supposed to come to church, but his car broke down that morning, but told us that he will come this week. We are planning to stop by on Thursday, hopefully he will be home. We haven't been able to get a hold of T and G or their mom. I am kind of nervous about them losing interest. I pray not! J and her Family, The G's, came again to church:) Both S, husband, and J have better jobs!!!!! Miracle right there, and so now she is just doing a 4 week training session, and S starts working when the resturant is done and ready to start business. M has come for 9 weeks now!!! HOLY COW!!!!!!!!! Even she noticed how much she has been coming, we just can't get a lesson with her because everyone is sick in her house.

I have started a challenge that Elder Bednar gave. I am reading the Book of Mormon, but I am reading it with a certain subject. My subject is "I can be a Missionary in my Life". Sister Johnston's is "Through the Eyes of Faith". Others are doing Atonement, Faith, Service, Love, etc. I really want to learn how people in the Book of Mormon became great missionaries when things were so much worse.

The weather is either getting better or worse...can't tell. There were MANY rain storms,  we had not heard of the flood warning until these past emails, but I loved getting soaked:) May have caught the sniffles, but well worth it. The bug bites have offically scarred my legs, and at this point I really don't care anymore. As far as prepping for fall/winter....Sweaters- I have 4...

I miss you and love you so much. I never thought I would learn so much, but most of the things missionaries learn here, I learned from you. They learn how to love others, how to serve them, how to read the scriptures more, how to pray with that knowledge that He really is listening. Thank you so much for teaching me these things in my youth, so I can teach not only the people I am serving, but my future children.

 

Love you all so much, would love to get some letters...send your prayers to Texas:)

Till we meet again,

Sister Victoria Foster

 

                     Went to Home Slice pizza, which is REALLY good. This is me with my menu

                Real Boots!!!! For the low, low price of just over $500... But aren't they pretty??!!!!

                                Guy on his horse at an intersection...Austin is SO weird...I love it!!

                 Saying Goodbye to Sister Hansen. Yep, I cried. A LOT. She is going to rock life!

                         First of many with Sister Johnston, someone thought we were sisters:)

                                    Lyric Street!! I love it since I am minoring in Music!!!!!

Goodbye Sister Hansen :(

Sister Hansen is leaving me:(    She goes to San Antonio on Tuesday so that she can go to the Temple with all the other departing missionaries, have an interview with The Mission President, and spend the rest of the day at the Mission House. Her plane isn't until Wednesday. I have so much to learn from her still, but sadly I don't have enough time.

I finally got to go to the Capitol! Did you know that it is brown? From far way it is brown, but when you get up close, it is white with brown in it...fun fact for ya. I got a Texas necklace in the gift shop:) I might get a tanline of it on my neck since I wear it everyday.

Baptisms: 0. No one has been progressing enough to get to there baptism date. R actually called us on Saturday asking when he was getting baptized(it was supposed to be that day), we had to explain to him that he needed to be at church for Sacrament meeting at least 3 times, and we needed to finish the lessons. I could tell he was disappionted...T and G are 2 girls we have been teaching, and their mom is a lesbian. well she is also a truck driver. She wants to be there for ALL of her daughters lessons, which I totally agree with, so we have to plan according to her driving schedule. J  and her son K are great. J had been looking for a better job, because her last job was rude and mean to her. Her husband S is already a member and wants to go to the Temple REALLY bad! YAY!!! Since J found a better job, she is more willing to listen and finish the discussions. K read the Book of Mormon twice already...just waiting on J. A woman named R moved in to the area, media referral, and said that she is ready for baptism! We are planning to meet with her soon. And then there is P. She LOVES Jesus and The Bible. We commited her to a baptismal date, but she hasn't come to church yet. All of these baptisms are planned for October, but I honestly don't know what is going to happen.

We got RAIN!!!!!! LOTS and LOTS of rain!!! It actually got to 65 degrees...Loved it:) I got BBQ, Finally! My legs are forever ruined with scars of bug bites...I did not know that ants can bite. Other than that, pretty good week.

I love ya'll so much, and I know that Heavenly Father loves us too.

Keep sending letters and prayers:)

Sister Foster

 At the State Capitol. My legs are forever ruined from all of the bites. The things we sacrifice on a mission!!!!

 Sister Pito came on splits with our other companionship, this is our  gorgeous view every morning for workouts

                                    Hermana  Garner and I with our AWESOME fashion sense!

                                                   Graffiti... Downtown Austin style...

A Sister's Testimony

In the mail this week, Sister Foster sent her sisters some letters containing her testimony. Here is an excerpt from one of the letters

Since the MTC I have felt the urge to share my testimony with people. Ever since your announcement about you wanting to go on a mission, I have realized I never really shared mine with you. It isn't perfect, even the prophet is strengthening his! So here we go :)
I know that our Heavenly Father sent us here on this earth to experience our agency in a world much different than our first home. I know that we are not perfect, we are all going to make mistakes. But Heavenly Father knew that. So He sent His perfect Son down here to teach us how we can return, and to take away our suffering. I know that Christ truly suffered every emotion, pain and thoughts that you and I have. The Atonement is real. Because of this Atonement Christ made it possible to live with Heavenly Father AND our Heavenly Mother again. I know that we do have Heavenly Parents, because families are modeled after them. I know that our family is going to be forever because we were sealed by the proper authority. I know that the only way to return to our Heavenly Parents is to have faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, Repentance, being baptized by the proper priesthood authority, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end (ENJOYING to the end: living the gospel throughout your life). I know this to be so true.  Don't be afraid to stand up for your beliefs and ALWAYS remember that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and I love you!!
Love you so much!  Stay Strong!
Sister Foster

No Habla Espanol !!

I am constantly running into people who speak Spanish here! I swear we give more referrals to the Spanish sisters than us receiving them. Although we also run into people from the Congo's, who speak French...wish I paid more attention to class now.

My companion wants me to learn how to give the discussions in French, but I would have to get permission from my Mission President...I don't know. Like on Sunday, we ran into an entire family from the Congo's. The oldest son and kids spoke french, but the father, Papa Gentil, spoke Swahilli...ya, very big language barrier.

T and G have agreed to be Baptized!!!!! Only problem is that we have to push there date to the 20th, which is the week Sister Hansen will be home. So I would already have a new companion...scary!!! No one else is progressing, everyone is just hitting a wall and stops doing their commitments. We met an investigator named P, she loves the Bible and is looking for religion that makes sense: JOIN OURS!!!! We already taught her the Restoration and The Plan of Salvation, but she kept interrupting us about how she wants to open up a refuge house for teens on the streets, and her wild dreams she has.

Hermana Garner, who came out with me, and I covered our area all by ourselves while our companions were at MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference). It was a long day. Everything we planned fell through, and we were just miserable, so we got Blue Bell Ice-Cream to cheer us up. It did:) The day before that I got to see Sister Pito during our morning work out ( she was on exchanges) and then I did a mini exchange with Sister Davis, she is one of the Sister Training Leaders. She is awesome! She is battling Lupis right now while she is out here, 15 months...inspiring!

There is just EVERYTHING going around here 90 miles an hour, and I feel like I am at a stand still...like that moment in The Best Two Years. It's a really weird feeling!

We helped a Less Active Member stop smoking!!! It was an interesting process, but the church has a plan for everything.

All the Missionaries in my Zone were conflicted on which team to root for for Saturday's game...Our Mission vs Our Religion. But in the end, we were proud of our Cougars:)

Well, hopefully THIS P-day we will be going to The Capitol...

Letters and prayers from everyone!

Love,

Sister Foster

                         Good to see her tennis shoes kicked off in the corner, just like home!!!

                                                Apparently these two don't fly well....
                                            This was on the plane from SLC to Texas

Monday holidays are an enemy to missionaries!!!!

 On Holidays the office where we live is closed. So is the Library. Missionaries use those places to write to their families on P-days. Hence the title.

This week has been very...interesting. I am teaching my first Lesbian couple. Yay?  Their kids though are LOVING the church! They came to church twice plus YW!!!! We asked the parents if they could be baptized on September 13th, but they said they will have to talk to them about it as a family. I can respect that.

A lot of Catholics and Baptists here in Austin. Everytime we meet one or the other, they automatically say "Bless you". It's sweet and comforting to hear. A lot will let us talk to them but by the time we ask if they would like to learn more, they reject it and tell us they belong to another church. Sister Hansen has really emphasized safety in our area. Which is great to know during after dark hours since we are in a pretty rough area.

Sadly the Baptism that we would have had on Saturday (the 6th) had to be pushed back because Rolle  and Latecha weren't ready yet. Rolle needs to come to all 3 hours of church for at least 3 times and Latecha needs to read The Book of Mormon. So we pushed it back to the 13th.

We are finding more members that speak French, so I pick out some of the French that I know while we teach Rolle and his friends. We also have another investigator set for the 20th, Melissa. She has two adorable kids and a boyfriend already involved with the church.

The lowest it got here was 79 degrees, and that was during a down pour (I got to drive in my first Texas Rain Storm, which turned into a severe flood warning)...I was the driver.

My district is awesome! We are so involved with each others business that it is crazy. Sister Hansen has her moments of freaking out because she goes home in 2 weeks. Pictures are to come.

I am so happy I am on a mission. It honestly is changing my life for the better, I don't even know why I would question not going. Honestly, what could I be doing right now instead of being out here and serving others by helping them learn the truth? Nothing.

Love y'all, love some letters soon

Sister Foster