10/31/16

Here is the thing. Right now my ability to connect ideas is so incredibly low that I'm just going to write in bullet points and throw buckets of information at ya'll. With love:)

PICTURES. In no particular order...literally these bullet points will not match up with the pictures. 

1. That Madd Hatter pictured is actually Curtis Brown. WHAT. For the people who are confused about why this matters....Curtis Brown is actually sort of..a little bit...definitely a huge deal when it comes to BYU football. So he is spending his Halloween dressed up as the Madd Hatter and BYU football fan children are spending their Halloween's dressed up like him. Also fun facts about him...he has triplets and another baby and they are all under the age of four. So cute. ALSO. We struck up a conversation with Brother Brown about having a ward turkey bowl and then Sister Murray just told me that when she imagines turkey bowls...she imagines men playing football with frozen turkeys. I AM DYING. 

2. We were able to go to the temple as a zone and that was INCREDIBLE. I've missed the temple but it was so amazing to be there and the temple workers are so cute. Loved it. Another fun fact about that picture is that clearly it is raining and this is a huge deal and if your wondering why that matters...the central valley is in a drought and rain is a huge deal. So we lovedddddd it. 

3. PENELOPE PARKER. Cutest black cat ever. I am dying about her and her whole family actually. Her dad is our ward mission leader and I just die at how cute their family is all the time. Also Brother Parker passed no judgement when Sister Murray and I told him we would probably spend our Halloween nairing our arms because we aren't allowed to be out. I'm probably going to bribe the Parker family to move to Utah by using Lime Rickies. 

OTHER NON-PICTURED THINGS. 

I READ THE MOST POWERFUL THING THE OTHER DAY. 

-in a talk by Elder Lawrence he said this....(AND SERIOUSLY LISTEN UP)

-"Christ votes for you, Satan votes against you, and you cast the deciding vote."

Seriously the truest thing I've heard all week. Do ya'll even realize that you have the power to cast that deciding vote? Probably not because I don't think anyone truly, fully, 100%, understands that...INCLUDING ME. 

so vote for you. This is an election that ya'll should want to be a part of:)

I LOVE YOU ALL.  YOUR AMAZING. 

10/24/16

My goodness. 

MY GOODNESS. 

Hello Ladies and Gentleman. 

This is Sister Rendon here. In case you forgot. 

Which is funny because this week I asked the a family in the ward how their son was doing on his mission and it took them like 15 seconds to remember who he even was.

This week was fantastic. 

So Wednesday was Zone Conference and post Zone Conference you have the most contradictory feelings of all life...because you are so motivated because you just received all this revelation, but you are also so tired your kind of desperate for a nap because receiving all that revelation is draining. 

Also President and Sister Clark got to speak at our Stake Conference so we were able to hear from this twice this week and that was incredible. 

I LOVE SISTER CLARK.

-A real quote from her this week. 

"Sometimes we look like missionaries...and sometimes we look like cute missionaries." haha so true. basically she was just telling me that she liked my outfit but I loved how she did it. 

Notable things about this week-

-I found out that Lime Rickies were like secluded to Northern Utah, so I'm making a desperate attempt to bring them to California 

Okay, I was going to make a long list of notable things that happened this week and I promise that there is a long list but then I got super distracted. 

but work in the Shepherd ward is going so well. We are having a forty day fast and three people are praying about baptism so that is fabulous! 

Dry Creek ward...we are praying for them. 

Lately everyone and their dog has been getting anti'd

Sister Murray and I have spent a lot of days in the past week telling people that John Smith is actually Pocahontas boyfriend and as far as we know never actually saw God and Joseph Smith is in fact a prophet of God. So here is the thing I am so incredibly grateful for Joseph Smith and his life and his sacrifices, but I have never once prayed to Joseph Smith or done anything in his name and I am not called to talk about Joseph Smith's church. 

This is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Everything we say or do is based on Christ. The only way that Salvation can come is through Jesus Christ. My faith is in Jesus Christ. 

I love it here. I am being treated so well. 

Literally last night when we left the walkers home their family made a human tunnel for us to run out of. 

Oh my goodness they are great. 

The California Fresno Mission is great. 

Ya'll are great. 

p.s.-Sister Murray found her planner. Which is funny because I accidentally left mine at a house and for approximately twenty minutes we were both out of a planner and that was pretty horrible. We were talking to 

Bishop Callister during this traumatic life event and he said.."What are you going to do? A missionaries planner is like a regular persons iphone......"

SO TRUE. YOU JUST GET IT BISHOP. 

Have a great week.

10/17/16

Ha. I'll get good at starting emails one day. 

and I hate to be that missionary who begs you to read the whole email. 

but please read this whole email because I promise that it can bless your life. 

NOT because I'm super cool or anything but because the Savior changes lives. 

BUT THIS IS WORTHWHILE. 

so actually read it please. 

So friends, family, and loved ones native to Utah are all very aware of that delicious place called Café Rio. 

Well guess what. For about the entire time I've been here all of the members have been chatting up a storm about how Café Rio is coming to Clovis California. 

and the grand opening was this week. So 99.99999999999% of the conversations we have had with members this week start out with 'Hey Sisters, have you made it to Cafe Rio yet?'

and I put on a brave face and pretend like it doesn't matter that the answer is no but really on the inside I'm having a hard time coming to terms with this fact. 

SO...ON FRIDAY. 

We didn't have a dinner appointment with members and Sister Clark (mission president's wife) had basically told us that if we weren't reaching goals we could forget about dinner. So Sister Murray and I desperately trying to raise the bar in the Shepherd/ Dry Creek area decided to work through dinner. 

And GUESS WHAT. 

-not a single soul answered the door. 

So at the end of the night we are a little less then bright eyed and bushy tailed and also super hungry and we had time to visit one more family before turning in for the night. 

So we visit this family and they invite us in, but they are in the middle of dinner and it's Cafe Rio and it's so close I can almost taste it. (haha. that is so literal.) but it's not mine for the tasting. 

And in my head I'm giving myself a little pep talk to get through this trial of mine. 

-The Lord knows I gave it my all, we will be blessed for this 

is what I'm saying to myself over and over and over. 

So were teaching these members and then we get a text and it's great. 

Elder Speer (the missionary in this area before Sister Murray and I) texted us and told us about a potential investigator he had forgotten about. AND HE IS SO SOLID. We are teaching him on Thursday. 

This is an actual real-life honest-to-goodness miracle. 

-Also the Cleveland's are bringing Café Rio to Sister Murray and I for lunch tomorrow and I could not be a happier camper. 

but also another miracle. 

The life of Jesus Christ. 

-Yesterday in Sacrament meeting I was just thinking about this hypothetical question. 

What if the Savior wasn't a part of missionary work?

-First of all you have to realize that this is completely ridiculous because Jesus Christ is quite literally the center of everything that we do and inviting to people to come unto him is the purpose that we recite every day and missionary work would not be missionary work without the Savior. But despite all of these things I was thinking what it would truly be like to be a missionary without the atonement. These were the words that came to my head and unlike the Cafe Rio story I am not being the least-bit dramatic....

-broken, hopeless, crippled, flawed, desperate, worthless, wasted, 

essentially incomprehensible pain. 

I would go to bed every night feeling like a failure and unfixable without the Atonement of Jesus Christ. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. 

As a missionary I have truly never been more aware of my flaws but I have also never relied more on the Atonement of Christ and 

EVERY SINGLE NIGHT I go to bed thankful that I can be better tomorrow and that I am loved and that despite all of those flaws my righteous efforts bring joy to the Savior of the world. And that brings an incomprehensible feeling of wholeness. My life would be completely incomplete without the Savior and if you feel like something is missing in your life....It's probably the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This applies to those who have known it their whole lives and those who haven't if your missing something your missing understanding of that Gospel, because IT IS ALL YOU NEED. 

PLEASE READ ALMA CHAPTER FIVE. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/5?lang=eng

-I studied it this morning and it changed my life all over again. 

READ THE WHOLE THING AND ACTUALLY PONDER IT. 

and guess what it's meant to be read by members of the church and non-members. 

SO NONE OF YOU HAVE AN EXCUSE. 

And tell me about it please:)

A little note from Sister Murray: 

This week I lost my planner!!! I still haven't found it and planners to missionaries are our life!! NO JOKE, pray for me.... thanks, love you bye. 

10/10/16

Hello, Hello, Hello. 

So this week was great, because how could it not be a great week when you are united with God in bringing to pass his work and his glory. 

It was also kind of difficult but that is okay because salvation is not a cheap experience and missionary work is not supposed to be easy. 

Sometime in the MTC, some inspired person whom I forgot the name of talked about fishers of men and hunters of men. 

Fishing is generally a pretty fruitful experience....most times fishers end up with quite a few fish as a result of their efforts. 

Hunting is a bit different in the scriptures fishers used nets, and hunters used a bow and arrow. 

Sister Murray and I are armed with a bow and arrow and we are on the hunt for some soul that is ready to receive the gospel.

Also besides hunting for prepared souls this week we also had an opportunity to go to Fresno State and set up all this dental stuff for this program that provides free dental care for 300 people in the area. They also provided free shirts for missionaries who served them so that is good news. 

I'm convinced these shirts should have said team smile with your eyes closed. 

life is good and I love you all. 

I PROMISE I'M WORKING HARD.

**October 3, 2016**

So I've got a really great story, and only one missionary was harmed in the making of it. 

Surprise Surprise------It was me. 

But no worries all is well and my ankle is almost back to regular size:)

So this week was transfer week which means we got new missionaries and Sister Murray and I were asked to go out street contacting with them their first day here in the fabulous CFM. 

So cute Sister Elwell and I went out to teach repentance and baptize converts and it was great. 

Sister Elwell is actually a spanish speaking missionary and so we went out to a super high spanish speaking area of the mission. The thing is she is fresh from the MTC so her spanish is still a working progress. 

Anywho we met these people and it was great and she did amazing inviting strangers to be baptized. 

And then we meet Froland. Froland is outside trimming his trees and also does not speak a lick of English, but he does recognize us as representatives of Jesus Christ and he had a lot to say to representatives of Jesus Christ. Also please remember Froland and I do not speak the same language. So Act 1 of the play of Frolands life begins and this man wants Hermana Elwell and I to understand so badly so he is literally acting out all these times in his life that God was real to him. Here is what I learned about Froland during said play that was literally 45 minutes long. 

1. He watched his dad get shot when he was only two years old

2. He rode a horse or something once, also cow's involved somehow

3. He once climbed a palm tree that was really high

4. There was this one tree that had five different fruits growing off of it

5. Also he was in a car accident once. 

So anyway cute little Froland is in the middle of depicting this car accident and it get's really spiritually and he's almost crying and I'm just saying Si every once-in-awhile but I'm also clearly not understanding whatever he wants me to understand. So all of a sudden he is saying a prayer with one hand over my head-to give me the gift of tongues or something. Unfortunately this was not in Heavenly Father's plan for me and instead of understanding his Spanish I get stung by a bee in the middle of this prayer and I am secretly dying inside of pain and also trying desperately to bear my testimony in Spanish. Anywho the moral of the story is the spirit can communicate in all circumstances even when nobody is speaking the same language and Froland was so grateful to have the Book of Mormon and Hermana Elwell was super excited to give it to him. She's going to be a great missionary. 

Also Froland was so kind and gave us roses and that was so sweet. 

Also obviously General Conference was great because we have Prophets of God on the Earth and that is incredible news. Seriously if you stop and think that we have men called of God who literally can help us to know exactly what God wants us to know that is a miracle. 

I could talk all day about this but I know you probably don't want me to. 

Remember how a long time ago like a month and a half ago;) I talked about the secret to happiness was forgetting yourself and living for others. Well a talk in the women's session talked about charity. And really charity is the secret to reaching the secret to happiness. She said sometimes the greatest form of Charity is to withhold judgement. I promise that if ya'll strive to withhold unrighteousness judgement you will have a happier week than you would have otherwise. 

Love you all. 

Your seriously so great. 

WATCH GENERAL CONFERENCE. 

FOLLOW THE PROPHET. 

HE KNOWS THE WAY.