I honestly can't remember...

This week was one of those weeks that I can't remember one thing...so I am going to try to list everything that happened.

There was a HUGE lightning and thunderstorm on Saturday! 90% chance rain... alright! There was serious rivers on the road, so we had to pull over somewhere just to wait out the storm. Perfect time to do some phone calls I guess. But the problem with the rain was that it made me sleepy and want to pull some sweats on. Can't really do that on a mission... We got bashed on the Book of Mormon at McDonald's, meeting a RC, said he wanted historical proof that the Book of Mormon was real...The book of Mormon is the best historical proof you can get! Later that night we had dinner at a PM's house, and they got a new puppy :) The puppy decided to pee on me...Seriously? I had to remind myself that it was kinda funny after we left.

We had our Ward Thanksgiving Dinner, and there were lots of food and investigators! I was so happy, and they seem to really be enjoying to get to know a lot of the members. K actually brought her husband with her! And he hit it off with some of K's fellowshipper's husbands. S came a little late, but still enjoyed the party.

R: Only 2 more lessons until his interview, yay!

S: We finally set a date for her! She is set for the 20th of Dec, and is SUPER prepared!! She totally understands the role of the Holy Ghost, and loves that she can always have Him with us.

I might be going on exchanges on my birthday, plus no one signed up for dinner for my birthday anyway...but we are eating Thanksgiving, so you can relax now. :)
Our district is dwindling down, we know have 5 sisters, and 5 elders. Sister Johnston is doing fabulous!

Didn't really see anyone this week that has a set date...

Now for the fun part...Pudding drop!

Last P-day, Sister Fullam wanted our District to do a Pudding drop. It was the most funnest, messiest and grossest (ignore the incorrect grammar) I have ever done! Plus it was Elder Graham and Elder Calley's Birthday's that week so we made them wear the birthday getup.

Because it is a week of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to say that I am grateful for my Family and Friends who are supporting me in this adventure and whirlwind that I am taking. I am grateful for Joseph Smith for asking God that day in the grove of trees, and I am continually grateful that he translated the Book of Mormon, which IS another testament of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for a Loving Heavenly Father who sent his only begotten Son to this earth to "go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." I am grateful for His Atoning Sacrifice, even if I may forget it sometimes. I am grateful to know that I am a Child of God! A daughter of a King! A witness of Christ.

I love all of you! I appreciate letters, and have a Great Thanksgiving!!!!!

Sister Foster:)    




                                                                  Pudding drop!

                                      

                                                        Oh the rain!!! I love it!!

Birthday elders

"But Sister, It's COLD outside!!!"

Warning, I repeat, Warning! It has gotten below 40 degrees in Austin!!!!!!

I have been thinking of things that I need to get and what I need to ask for in order to stay warm...because the cold in Austin gets ridiculous!  I am very cold, and I luckily got the tan jacket from the Sister donation bag. All I can think of is send warm things, hopefully we will be going to Good Will today. {MOM HERE...THAT PARAGRAPH WAS FOR ME, I HAD ASKED HER WHAT SHE NEEDS FOR WINTER :)}

Funny Moment of the week: Our car couldn't start on Friday night...Of course it would happen to me!*Ask anyone of my family members why this is funny, I am not the best when it comes to cars* It just wouldn't start! We sat in the 7/11 gas pump for a good hour before the Zilker Park Sisters picked us up to take us home. I can check that off my bucket list!

There has been some new families moving into the ward, which is a HUGE blessing because our ward is really small of active families. It is our job as the Austin Ward missionaries to go around our area and see who is actually here because when people transfer their records to Austin they automatically transfer them to our ward. We had counted how many we have marked moved or do not contact=118 names. Yay us!

S: We got a referral from a member in Sunset Valley Ward saying that her friend wants to come to church, but belongs to our ward. She also wants to study the Book of Mormon. Okay! We get to her house and she made us dinner and we gave the 1st lesson, and asked if she wanted to be baptized. Said she wasn't ready but wants to continue to learn. She came to church this Sunday and after Gospel Principles she pulled me and Sister Johnston aside and said "I had a vision, about baptism. I want to be baptized!" Are. You. Serious?! Did that really just happen! We still don't have a date for her, but we are meeting with her tonight and talking about the Plan of Salvation.

We helped clean two houses this week...Sister Johnston and I were serving then we shared a thought/lesson...P's and M's.

M got released from the hospital Tuesday and she is not allowed ANY Sodium! She is on a new life long diet where she has to keep track of everything that she eats, I could never do that so I am admiring the dedication that she has to become a better person and mother.

Taught K and A earlier this week, but we have not been able to get into contact with them to schedule another appointment, and K's baptism date is coming up...

R is doing great! Getting closer to baptism!

The most stressful moment of the week was on Saturday when we were trying to figure out how we were going to go out today. The Auto place said that they weren't going to look at the car until after lunch, and of course this was the day that we had appointments all over the area! Through the power of prayer, one member said that she could come with us the ENTIRE day!!!!!!! I have never been so grateful until that moment, that was also a humbling moment for me because I had not said my morning prayers and that was my first prayer, a prayer to help us serve him in this little part of his vineyard.

I had Real BBQ!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had Ribs, Brisket and Sausage,  with Butter-Pecan with Coconut frosting, yum!

Sister Johnston and I are doing great. We have had a lot of fun with my camera this week ;)

I love you all so much and I really appreciate letters! I think and pray for y'all constantly.

I love y'all !!!

Sister Foster <3

 A true Texan meal. Brother M. woke up at 6 in the morning to smoke the brisket for 12 hours!! But then we forgot to take a picture with him!

                                               M. throwing away her ashtray FOREVER!

                                        PDay pics of us and the Capitol Elders emailing home

                                 We were CRAVING ice cream even though we were freezing

                                                       Having fun with my camera

"Girl,they hate'n, I'm goin to Y'all's church!"

Funny Moments:

-K    "I am having a hard time eating meat sparingly"...couldn't stop laughing for the longest time!

-Seeing the reaction of the entire district when Sister Johnston said that she used to have dreads...yeah, my companion rocks!

-That awkward moment when you see other missionaries in the same apartment complex as us...we should have just car-pooled.

-Sister Johnston, Sister Fullam had to give a training and I had to give the gospel thought...next day Sister Fullam said "ya, we were a spiritual bomb yesterday", amen!

-I was the only one that could sound like K and N ( 2 Awesome Black ladies with ghetto accents). That's for you Sister Pito ;)  M: This week has been an emotional and physical uphill battle for her this week. We saw her Tuesday and taught her at the church, seemed really good.Thursday we were supposed to meet again and she was a no show. Tried to call her, didn't answer. It wasn't until Friday morning that we found out that she was admitted to the hospital because she had a Heart-Attack! We spent that entire morning trying to find someone that could come with us to give her a blessing (she specifically asked for one). We saw her Sunday and she was up and had wires all around. We had a little lesson on Faith, because that is her favorite subject and she loves Alma 32. She is doing really well now, she is growing stronger and recovering more and more everyday.

A: She was a referral from the Riverside Elders. We have been trying to get a hold of her and she has never been home. This week, Sister Johnston turned right instead of left and said "Let's go see A". She was HOME !!!! We taught her the Restoration, and gave her a Book of Mormon. She says she wants to learn more, and we are super excited!

We met K and N, Awesomest ladies I have EVER. MET! They have pass-along cards on top of their door frame and their door was opened so we started a conversation about what those cards meant (Book of Mormon and Savior cards). They kept telling us that our church sounds awesome and where we were located. Might I add too, is that these women had HUGE curly wigs, lots of make-up, long nails and LONG and Thick eyelashes.

K: Haven't been able to see her all week, she is working and has to pick up her husband at work, but we are supposed to meet with her this week and discuss her baptism :)

R: She is my favorite person right now! She had a much better experience at church this week, and she actually made some new friends. We talked to her about how our ward is different, but it is still the Lord's restored church. I think that got her to come back and give us another shot. We just have to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to make sure she stays in the Austin Ward!

Primary program was Sunday, and we had A LOT of people at church, it was so precious!

Met a couple of new investigators this week, some formers others referrals, but the Lord is preparing his children to hear this beautiful message : That the Church Jesus Christ established while he was on the earth has been restored through a modern day prophet, and that we have another testament of Jesus Christ called the Book of Mormon.

I am loving some moments, and praying for the strength to get through others, but I know I am supposed to be here, I am supposed to be at the Texas, San Antonio Mission (TSAM) to meet these wonderful people!

                                                       Pie for breakfast? Umm YES!!!!

                                                               Elder Harris's Birthday

                                              K from the ward went out with us for a day

                                                    Sister Fullam got eaten by the car

                                 The mist coming off the river in front of our apt in the morning.

"This is what I have been missing...this has filled my hole"‏ _quote from our investigator!!

Greatest thing a missionary can hear... "This is what I have been missing, this has filled my hole"

Halloween: Halloween in Austin was so cool. We had to be in right after our dinner appointment, and since we didn't have one, that meant that we had to in at 4 pm...but we had to have candy! Special shout out to HEB :) So we finished Weekly Planning with 2 bags of candy! Done right. At the end of the night, we saw fireworks! Austin Rocks Halloween! We had our Ward Night and it was Trunk-or-Treat. We saw some formers there and talked to a lot of the members. Two different families had brought animals for the kids. My ward mission leader owns miniature horses so he brought them. Another lady brought her goats. My awesome ward!K: She was set for the 15th of November to be baptized, but now she wants to do it on the 23rd (Sunday) so that everyone at church can attend. She stayed for all of church for the first time. At the meeting, there was a baby blessing and she cried. She actually made me go up and bear my testimony as well. "You are my missionary, you need to set an example for me". How could I not go up after that? When I came back to my seat she gave me a big hug and a kiss on my cheek. Lets just say that I couldn't stop smiling. We went to Sunday school and had one of our new ward missionary teach about the Atonement. She felt that all her questions about that were answered. Same with Relief Society! Awesome day at church!!!!!!!!The same ward missionary that taught is preparing to go on a mission. She spent a couple of hours with us on Wednesday so that she could get the feel of how it goes. I wish I did that before my mission! I kick myself every time I think about it...That is why I am going to help her prepare the best she can. She did amazing! We had Sister Fullam with us because the next day was transfer meetings (She has a Temple Square missionary in her companionship now and a Sister Training Leader) so it was the 4 of us. We did splits and covered a lot of work. She was super excited for her mission now. We taught (only lesson) J H, who was a referral from the Capitol Elders. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she kept saying "that makes sense". Great! We asked her if she wanted to be baptized on the 29th and she said sure.R: We have not been able to meet with her since last Sunday, and honestly I am getting a little worried. What if she decides not to continue with us? What if she moves back to College Station? R no!!!

We said bye to Sister Morrell this Tuesday, and Sister Davis the new Sister Training Leader Leader! That was why we had Sister Fullam with us for a couple of days. They are going to do great things.

It is starting to get colder, it reached 50 on Sunday morning :) I loved it!!! Sister Johnston on the other hand is freezing her butt off. But I can already tell that I am going to need more sweaters...Thank you so much for all the support that all of y'all are giving and sending my way. I love each and everyone of you!

Love,

Sister Foster

 

 

Thank you SOOOOOO much for the '100 day' package! That brightened up my day so much!

Sister Johnston laughed so hard when she read 'truck driver burps' thanks to whoever wrote that!

                                     Here is a picture with me and two goats just for Jerika :)

 This is ALL the candy that I have received from you and grandma this week. Ignore the bug eyes I am making...lots of sugar on Halloween...

                                                                           Pday fun

                                                             We found mountains!!!!

                                              Sometimes we need a break from training...

                                           Miniature horses from our ward mission leader

                                                                Halloween candy!!!