Week 18: September 29, 2016 The Temple Here is Beautiful

Hi Everyone,

Today we don't have too much of a pday though. We went to the temple this morning, which was great! We are allowed to go every 3 months (if it has been over 3 months for your companion as well) and you just have to have a member ride to the temple. So we woke up at 4:30 this morning and went running. Sister Gonzalez is not a runner so she is so nice to get up and do that with me. She was one of the sisters that wants me to help them become a runner and it has been great running with her everyday. Sometimes we don't get to run for very long but even just the little bit is nice. Then we got ready and had personal and companionship study each for an hour and then left for the temple at 8:30 and went to the first session at 9:30. The temple here is beautiful! As we were taking pictures outside of the temple, sister Gonzalez and I realized that we are kinda matching today with our black and white outfits...wasn't planned but that's kinda fun. We stopped at Walmart on our way home from the members house after the temple and got groceries. While we were wandering around the store we noticed that there were some super cheap Halloween shirts so we ended up buying matching glow-in-the-dark Halloween shirts just for fun. We decided that we needed to do it because we only have a week left in this transfer and sister Gonzalez has been here in Riverview for 6 months now so we are thinking that she will be leaving and I'll get a new companion here. It'll be sad but it will be good to change and have the opportunity to learn from another companion.  

We are still teaching A and he is doing really well! He is still on date for Oct 8th and is excited about it. It has been really difficult with the whole language barrier but we think that we might have found someone nearby that is a recent convert and he speaks both Swahili and English fluently so that was a huge miracle this week! We haven't quite figured out how it is all going to work yet but we are praying that he will be able to at least help us over the phone or something. We were able to meet his family yesterday and they were all so sweet! Hopefully they will see his example and will want to learn about the gospel as well.We had a lesson with a man named P on Tuesday night and that went really well! He is from Mexico and is so nice! It was the first time we met him and we taught him the restoration and he said that he believes that it is all true. We invited him to baptism and he said yes but we haven't picked a date yet. We are praying that he will be able to continue to progress and keep that desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ. He spoke really fast and had a weird accent so I had a really hard time understanding him but I tried. It was nice to have a companion from Mexico to help me out when I was lost.

It has been pretty slow lately at the VC but we actually had a couple large tour groups come in this week and that was so great! It was all a bunch of old couples who are traveling to all the historical sites. I love giving tours in general but this past group that came in this week was one of my favorites. They were just so eager to learn and the spirit was so strong.  

I gave a tour this Saturday, right before women's conference (which was incredible!), and afterwards found out that a member of the presiding bishopric (bishop Waddell) was in my group! So that was pretty cool. He wasn't in church clothes or anything and it was a LARGE group so I didn't even notice him. 

There have been so many miracles this week and I am so grateful for this transfer that I have had with Sister Gonzalez. I have been able to learn so much from her and I am excited to see what will happen next transfer! 

Love and miss you! Have a great week!

Week 17: September 22, 2016 Parts of Erin's letter to Mom and to Dad

Hello Mom,

Ya it was pretty weird to have a night pday and be out so late at night not doing anything missionary related. 

Ya, I am glad that we aren't having any problems as companions.  We have been getting a long really well lately! I think a lot of it is that we are able to have a lot of
inside jokes now and laugh about so many things. The girl that got switched around seems to be doing really well where she is right now.  

How did your super Saturday lessons go!? I'm sure that they were great! You are a really talented speaker and always to a great job!  I wish that I would have been in Utah to spend time with you all but it is great being here too.

I loved seeing all the pictures that you sent! Thanks so much! Baby Halle looked SO cute in her dress! Everyone looks so good! That was a fun dress that you got Brooklyn! I am sure that she loves it! It is so fun to see Lisa pregnant! I am so excited to have so many nieces and
it will be fun to meet and play with them when I get home! Grandma and Grandpa look great. That was fun that you got to spend some time with them. How is
grandma doing? I'm sure that it was nice to spend some time at Heidi's grave and

think and listen to music. I can't believe that it has already been 3.5 years since she passed away. I miss her so much. That must have been a really great experience. Especially with how much you have been running around and busy lately. I bet it was good to just sit there
and feel close to her for a little bit.

I'm sure that Rachel's book looks great! All websites (other than church-run sites) are blocked on our iPads so I can't look at it but I would love to see a few pictures of her and it. She will love it! That was such a great idea. She is getting so old!

Love and miss you so much! Don't worry about being behind on the blog.
I really appreciate that you are doing that for me. Thanks for everything you do for me. You're the best. Give Rach a birthday hug for me.

Hermana Gonzalez and I have been able to do a lot of running, which has been great! We just go and run around the church parking lot over and over and over again but it is fun. We have recruited a bunch of other sisters to come and join us as well! We typically have like 8 or

10 sisters there every day. We are the only companionship that goes at 6 and the rest of them join us at 6:30. This morning we decided that we wanted to know how many laps around the parking lot was a mile so we drove to the stake center and drove around the parking lot to figure it out. Turns out 6.5 laps is a mile. Some of the other sisters have even asked me to start coaching them and help them become runners. It's great but there is only so much you can do to help
someone become a runner while they are on a mission. 

This week we had a lesson with a lady named R who is SO sweet. Her
daughter was baptized a while back and is on a mission right now. We did service for her last week and helped her to clear out her yard and then she called us the next day and was like, "I have a question for you sisters, what time is church on Sunday and can I come?". Of course
we said YES and told her it is at 10. She came to church and loved it! She was able share a little bit about her daughter and was able to make some friends. 

During our lesson on Monday, she talked about how much love and peace she felt while she was there and how she really
enjoyed her experience. We were able to teach her the plan of salvation and she said that she would pray about a baptismal date! She also wants to meet with the branch president and talk to him about it. The spirit was so strong and she is really progressing! It was incredible!

I am doing well and it is so great being a missionary. Love and miss
you all so much!

Hermana Greenwood

Hello Dad,

That is sad that so many people lost their houses with all of the storms that have happened but it is good to know how many people are willing to help and serve. I have really been able to see on my mission the blessings that come from service and how just a little bit can go a long way. As I have told you before, everyone here is really poor and so we have the opportunity to do quite a bit of service. There was one lady that we talked to that started crying when we asked if there was anything that we could do for her because she couldn't believe that we would be willing to help her. It was kinda sad but at the same time it made me feel good to know that I was making a difference in someone's life. They may or may not accept the gospel but I was still able to help them. 

The lessons with the people from the Congo are going really well! We have 2 of them on date and hopefully will get some more on date on. Saturday when we have another appointment with them. It is really cool to be able to teach the gospel in so many languages.

Love and miss you so much! It is great to hear from you and I hope that all is going well!

Love,

Hermana Greenwood

Week 16: September 15, 2016 Night Pday

Erin's letter came in at 9:00 PM

Hey fam!

SO this week has been pretty crazy because a companionship had to be
ET'd (Emergency Transferred) because they were not getting along and one of them was new and stressin about learning all the history and everything. SO that caused for a few more changes in the schedule and made it so today I had NIGHT pday (not every pday will be like this). It was pretty crazy. I had a shift this morning at VC and then my pday started

at 3 and went until 9 tonight. It's cool but that means we have less time to get everything done and so I literally only have 30 minutes to email today.

It sounds like everyone is doing well! Thanks for sending so many pictures to me! I loved seeing them! Those pictures of the babies are so cute!! I showed them to a lot of the other VC sisters and they were dying. So good job on having cute babies. Jorden did great in his triathlon! That is awesome that he got 3rd! We will have to do a race together when I get home. He can help me get back in shape. And Lisa is having a GIRL!! WOO! That is so exciting!

I did get the package and it was great! Thank you SOO MUCH! I loved getting it and everything in it was exactly what I have been needing. Also, the iPad key board and case you sent is awesome! I have been able to type so much more quickly and it's the best!

This week has been pretty fun because we are teaching a bunch of people from the Congo and they only speak Swahili, French, a lot of other weird languages and a LITTLE English. It has been really fun to teach them and literally be as simple as possible. We were finally able to get a member who speaks French to come and it was so much easier. They are all on date for October 8th so that is awesome! We might try and move the date up a little bit even because they are
progressing really well and love it. It ultimately depends on the language barrier. BUT we have started teaching an English class for people who want to learn English and that has been great!
I am sending a video to you of some of the sisters singing in front of the Christus with a senior elder who has some disabilities. (We didn't get the video not sure why). He comes in every once in a while and we will sing with him and he LOVES it. It is so sweet!! I love it!

On Sunday, we were really slow so we went downstairs to the history and did role plays and took pictures down there. It was really fun! I have been doing great! I love and miss you all so much!

(We didn't get these photos either. We need to ask about them.)

Love you,
Hermana Greenwood

Week 15 September 8, 2016: Short and Sweet

Hey!! 

So this weeks email is going to be real short so sorry about that! If you can, could you write me the night before? So on Wednesday nights? I know that Wednesday's are busy for mom and everyone with mutual and everything but we aren't allowed to write our letters at the VC so often I don't even get to read your emails until like 15 minutes before pday ends and that isn't enough time to read and send a response. 

I love seeing everything that you have done though! It sounds like it has been a really fun and busy week! That trip that you went on is BEAUTIFUL! I would love to go there! That is so fun! 

That must have been so great to go see Andrew as well! I didn't realize that he was coming home so soon! That's great! How is he doing? Did you surprise him? 

I will definitely pray that Jason will do well on his ACT, I am sure that he has prepared a lot and will do well! Is he nervous about it?

That is great to hear that Rachie made the A team for volleyball! I'm sure that she will do great and is super busy with all of her sports that she's in!

Not too much happened this week. We went on exchanges again and I had to give another Spanish lesson with an English companion! It went
super well though! We also had a large number of Spanish speaking people come through the visitor center this week so that was great too! I'm trying to find any time that I can to speak Spanish but it is really hard.

We started teaching 3 people from Africa this week and they speak Swahili so that has been interesting! They know VERY little English so we have to be super short and sweet with them! They are awesome
though!

Things are all going well here! 

Love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Greenwood

Week 14: September 1, 2016 My P-days are on Thursday

Hola,

So, my pdays are on THURSDAY now! Being in the VC causes them to change every once in a while but sorry that I forgot to mention it last week.

This past week and  half has been good! We had transfers and it was kinda crazy because Sister Gonzalez had a training call but something changed and her and I are still companions in Riverview! I heard that one of the girls decided that she didn't want to come and just went home after the MTC instead of to the field. She missed out...Missouri is crazy but it's great.

Dad had asked about our Investigator that was on date and sadly, he was one of the 2 that we had to drop. He just wasn't progressing and every lesson that we had with him was just a bible study or fellowship thing. He wasn't progressing towards baptism at all because he was too worried about leaving the church that he was part of and wasn't interested in completely switching. He thought that he could get baptized in our church and still be a part of his church. Weird, but ya, we cleared that up.

This week, we were teaching a Spanish family and it started storming like crazy outside and it was almost 9pm so we had to leave so we could get home by 9:30 and the family was so funny and ran back inside to get trash bags and then gave them to us to wear as ponchos. It was so funny! The bags like didn't cover us as all but it was an adventure.

Today we went and visited a historical mansion here in Independence
and that was really cool! We went with another companionship but I
didn't get a picture with all 4 of us.

Muchas Gracias. 

Well, I'm out of time but love you all so much! Can't wait to hear from you! 

Hermana Greenwood