Last Transfer!

This is a picture that Elizabeth took in her area in California - beautiful!

The end of Elizabeth's mission is so close!  She actually had her last transfer on Monday, so that means there are only 6 weeks left!  She found out on Monday that she was moving to Goleta, which is right next to Santa Barbara.  She was sad to move away from her companion, Sister Draney:

 

They have become very close and Elizabeth says she has learned so much from Sister Draney about being a leader and a teacher.  Her new companion in Goleta is Sister Beatty.  She has been serving for almost 17 months, has lived in 8 different areas and has had 14 different companions!

 

"Don't count the days, make the days count!"

Christmas in California

Elizabeth has been through two transfers since the last blog.  The first transfer was to Santa Maria, which is farther north than Santa Barbara and a more rural area.  She spent six weeks there, and loved the area and her companion, Sister Giambatista.

 

She had a great Thanksgiving there, and then found out that she was going even FARTHER north to San Luis Obispo.  Now she is almost as close to San Francisco as she is to Los Angeles.

 

 

 She has been called as a Sister Training Leader, which means that she will be traveling around helping to train and take care of the new Sister missionaries.  She will also be meeting with the Mission President, President Felix, at the Mission Office.  Her new companion is Sister Collings, who is one of the missionaries that started out with her!

 

 

 

Though the nickname for her new town is "SLO", she has been keeping very busy!  As of the writing of this post, she only has 3 months, 26 days and 13 hours left of her mission (but who's counting?).

She has already made some goals that will last through to the end of her mission, so the time will fly by for her!

 

We were able to talk to her on Christmas Day, and she still sounds mostly like herself.  She said to tell everyone "hi!" and "Happy New Year!" 

 

 

Elder Odom is home!!

One Year Anniversary!

Today marks the one year anniversary of when Elizabeth was set apart as a missionary!  Since then, she has been a representative of the LDS church and has lived by strict standards and schedules.  It has been one year since she has been able to go off by herself, as she is required to have a constant companion. 

She has grown so much over the past year, and is loving every minute of her mission!  Though the time is going by slowly here at home, she has been so busy that the year has flown by for her.  In her most recent email she says:

" So I can't even believe it, but exactly a year ago today I was set apart as a missionary. I don't know where the time has gone but I can still remember those first feelings of excitement and nervousness. Honestly I really had no idea what a missionary did all day until I came out and started doing it! I am learning and growing so much and I wouldn't trade these experiences - even the really hard ones - for anything. I've never felt such pure joy and closeness to Heavenly Father and Christ. I can really say that I know for myself that He lives and is involved in the smallest details of our lives. I've learned what real prayer is and how to feast on His words. I've learned how to keep moving when it seems too hard and I want to give up. Every morning I still wake up and think... "I'm a missionary?" Or when I'm talking to someone on the street or on a park bench about God's plan for them I think "How did I even get here!" Haha it's kind of like a dream, like this couldn't be reality. But it is! And I'm so grateful!"

This week will be full of anniversaries to remember:

 

A year since she left Georgia to head to Texas to get set apart...

 

 

A year since she went into the MTC (Thursday)..

 

 

And two years since Jarom went into the MTC! (Friday).

Update on Jarom - he's coming home October 21st!

 

 

I know that she's looking forward to the next 6 months of her mission - as much as we are looking forward to her coming home!

 

Santa Barbara Zone

Summer in Santa Barbara!

 

 

Sister Ashworth sent an email to us today saying that she is being transferred to Santa Barbara and will have a new companion, Sister James.  She is excited about the move, even though she only spent 6 weeks in Ventura - that area went by so quick that I didn't even get to write about it!  She is really enjoying getting to see so many different areas in her mission.  It is a little unusual that she has already had 8 companions in the (almost) 9 months that she's been out, but she is adapting well and enjoying meeting SO many people.  We joke that she is a seed-planter, in each area just long    enough to plant some ideas and then OFF AGAIN to a new place.  Here is a little from one of her recent emails:

  "I guess so far my mission has been a little different than I and others have imagined. It's a little tougher to find people to teach in California, but I don't really mind. I know that I am successful when I am committed. I'm successful when I keep going even though no one cares to listen. People have their agency. And it's not that my mission is impossible or anything, my MTC companion has seen probably 7 or 8 people get baptized. But even within the same mission, everyone's experience is different, and that's okay! I have taught people who were really progressing, and in those moments I realized just how little I actually do. The Spirit is the teacher, the Spirit guides us where to go, and they're coming unto Christ, not me. So I am just an instrument in the Lord's hands. And if he wants me to plant seeds, then that's what I'll do! So I'll just be the best seed-planter that I can be!"


So, she is saying good-bye to Ventura and Sister Nicholas:

 

Ventura was an adventure, with the Santa Ana heat

 

 

and the HUGE spiders (this one's for Jarom)

 

                                 

                                                               (California Spider)




 

 

 

                                                                 (Philippine Spider)

 

 

Here is a picture postcard of Santa Barbara, it looks beautiful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Time in California

 



This week was transfer week again, and Sister Ashworth has been transferred back to her last area, which is still in Camarillo, but in the 5th Ward instead of the 6th.  She is happy to be going back because she already knows everyone there, and has already done some work in that area.  She will be staying in the same apartment she's in now, with 3 other Sister missionaries.  This is the first time she will be a senior companion, which means that she's been out longer than her new companion, Sister Nicholas. (6 months on April 10th!!)

 

It seems like every weekend in March, we heard news of another earthquake in the Los Angeles area, but for the first few, she always said that she didn't feel anything.  Well, she finally felt one and had to make an "emergency" earthquake shelter in her apartment.  They were on earthquake watch over that weekend - no news of any more since then.

 

Sister Cox in their earthquake hideout

 

The mountain in Camarillo

 

She has been keeping busy this month with Zone Conference, General Conference, and Mission Conference coming up next week.  She is excited that one of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Russell M. Nelson, is coming to speak at their Mission Conference.  She is having a great time meeting people and is having more success at finding investigators and teaching lessons...

 

Sister Ashworth and Sister Cox

 

 

 

 

 

...and knocking on doors!

 

 

She is loving what she is doing and glad to be where she is right now, but it's not always easy.  In one of her recent emails, she said this:

 

"I'll be totally honest, this isn't all butterflies and rainbows like I make it sound. Probably 85% + of my experiences on my mission are really difficult, California is a tough place! But why are missionaries like, "this is the best time of my life!" Each day when I sit down at the computer to email or when I go to bed, I only remember the really good stuff. I hardly remember the hard things that I went through. When it's good, it's really good! Plus, why focus on the hard things in life? It's exhausting! I've had to learn how to allow myself to be happier. And life is waay good."

 

Sister Ashworth is pretty lucky to be in an area where the weather is pretty mild year-round.  As a Southern girl, she loves  warm weather best!  She has taken pictures of some beautiful flowers for her garden-loving grandmothers: