Happy Halloween!!!

What a wonderful way to spend a spooky holiday! You know how much I love Halloween. Going to Haunted Houses is probably one of my favorite things EVER, so for a minute I was sad I would be missing out on all the fun things we always do around Halloween time (Hocus Pocus included), but I got over it real fast because this Halloween was one of the best I've ever had! But I'll get there. Let's start with the beginning of the week. :)

On Monday night, we went with our investigator, Erica, to a Single Adult FHE in prep for Halloween. It was supposed to be a rockin' party, but when we got there it was all the OLD Single Adults, and they were carving pumpkins that we didn't know we were supposed to bring. The Apple Cider wasn't great, and nobody really talked to each other, so we went back to Erica's house instead. That night, we had a really great talk with her about her desires. She told us that she wanted to be baptized before we even had the chance to ask. :) It was amazing! God knew that party needed to be bad so we could go to her house and talk about baptism. She has such a strong desire to learn more, get to know more people in the ward, and be baptized on December 6th. Her 9 year old, Riya, wants to be baptized too! But she doesn't really understand what that means yet, so we are working with both of them. We spend a lot of time with them, but that is because they are progressing and they are wonderful! They always have good questions, and they love us. We love them so so much too! 

Tuesday was eventful. We started by going to Gary's house (a recently activated member) with Sister Worthy. Gary had an interview with Bishop and the Stake President recently, and he is getting the Melchizedek Priesthood on Sunday so that he can go through the temple in the next couple weeks!!! AGH! We are so excited for him. He is the sweetest man ever, and he has such a strong desire to do the Lord's work in His temples! I love that man. Our lesson went very well, and we answered as many questions as we could, but halfway through the lesson, Sister Worthy suddenly said she needed to go. We were confused, but we looked at her and she was sweating SO bad! She said she had a headache that had been there for a couple of days, and it was suddenly unbearable. So we left, and because we were worried about her driving all the way home, we followed her. When we got to her house she told us her blood pressure medication had run out, and that was the only thing she could think of causing her to feel this way. So we called it in, and went and picked up her prescription for her. The next day she was alright, but we were preparing to take her to the hospital just in case. It was scary! She is okay now, so that is good!

That night we went to our weekly Bible Study class with our rehab after rehab friends! It was a good study. We read Mark 2, and talked about all the goodness in the chapter! After class, a sweet man that looks like Santa Clause, living in the facility (who used to attend our class but apparently was offended by the "not smart enough" classmates) came up to us and informed us that Jesus is coming next year. He was CERTAIN! He has been studying the moon patterns, and the movements of the ocean waves, and he knows for sure that Jesus is coming. Exactly a year from now. According to Pete, Christ is coming! Better prepare! ;) So now Sister Borchardt and I have this joke, "According to Pete..." fill in the blank. Haha he's the greatest. 

Wednesday night, we went to the mission office to talk to President about some things, and when we left, Sister Taylor asked us if we had a dinner appointment. The members here don't actually feed us very often, so as it happened, we were free that night! Sister Taylor is the sweetest, and she took us to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. Haha! Neither of us had ever been there, but it was sure fun! The world series was happening that night, so all 100 of the TV's in the place were showing the world series and the Blazer's opening game, so everyone there was all hyped up! It was fun. :) I felt kinda like a nun coming out of her convent for the first time because we were trying so hard to avert our eyes from the TV's. Haha!

Friday was Halloween!!! We had weekly planning for most of the day, and then the party got started! In the afternoon, we went over to Erica's house to put together a costume for Riya. They didn't have anything, so Erica was just gonna pin a bunch of socks to Riya's shirt and call her "Static Cling." ...Nice idea, but Riya wanted to feel pretty. So I did her makeup and we made her a fairy! She was SO happy! They got dressed up and ready, and then we all headed to the Ward Harvest Party. There was chili and corn bread (felt almost like home!), music, games, and then a Trunk-or-Treat which was actually inside because it was pouring rain out. Sister Borchardt and I decorated a room and handed out candy to all the cute chillin's around! It was super fun! I had a piano in the back of the dark room and played "scary" music like Phantom of the Opera while Guddi and Sister Borchardt handed the candy out. It was wonderful! By the way, can you tell what we dressed up as? Hahaha...

That's right, we were Maleficent and Sleeping Beauty! It was so fun! I had my Disney horns from Mike that he sent me from Disneyland, and Sister Borchardt had the beige skirt, so I wrapped my black scarf around her torso, curled her hair, bought a headband, and POOF! We were a Dynamic Disney Duo! It was so great. We were both all full of smiles all day long. Aurora is her favorite princess, and Maleficent is my favorite person ever, so it worked out wonderfully! After the party, we went to the mission office where they were holding a Halloween party for our zone. :) It's SOOOO nice being so close to the mission office. We get our mail like 3 times faster than normal because sometimes they just text us and tell us it's there! It's awesome. The party was fun, and we thought we'd spice up our costumes with some extra evil...

We thought it was appropriate to be vampires on Halloween in Washington. I'm sure Edward would appreciate it. ;) So yes, Halloween was definitely a success, and it brought so much excitement for the two of us! I was super grateful for how it turned out. :) Here are the rest of the pictures from that day.

The day after Halloween, we had a super cool Companion Study at the Mission Office with President Taylor. We talked a lot about how to teach to people's needs, and how to better perfect our own personal teaching skills as missionaries. Obedience was a huge thing President talked about. He also told us that when it comes to the Vancouver West Stake, he has recently become selfish because it is the Stake that he lives in, and lately it hasn't seen a ton of success. He told us that he purposefully placed his most trusted missionaries in this stake this transfer, and he tells everyone that we are the best of the best. It was a lot of pressure, but it was good to know how much he really does trust us. He definitely motivated all of us to work twice as hard and with twice as much love. He really is an amazing man. 

That night, we had the adult session of Stake Conference. It. Was. AMAZING! Elder Christensen, a member of the 70, came and spoke to us. I have never scrambled so hard to take such detailed notes in my life. Every word of his talk was phenomenal, and applied so perfectly to everyone in that room. He was excited, fun, and super upbeat, so everyone felt comfortable there and we all listened intently to what he had to say because he was so enthusiastic! It was seriously awesome. (Side note: Sister Taylor gave a talk too and she mentioned me by name twice! I was busy writing notes from the previous talk when she mentioned me so I wasn't really paying attention until I heard my name. And then I panicked because I thought she was calling me out! But she wasn't. It was fine. Haha)

Erica and Riya came to the Sunday session of Stake Conference, and they loved it! They got to meet President and Sister Taylor, and they also met Elder Christensen who was so warm and welcoming and made them feel right at home. I'm telling you, this week was perfect. We got to celebrate a super fun holiday my favorite way (the Disney way with friends!), we helped people in need, and had two days full of spiritual upliftment! I couldn't have asked for a better Halloween. I hope yours was as good as mine! I love you all and I can't wait to talk to you next Monday! :)

Love Always,

Sister Guilott

"The last picture Sisters Cone, Kearl, and I took before I flew home. Also, a picture of President and me at the airport when I flew home.  He said he wouldn't hug me because he knew I'd be coming back.  He'll only hug me when I'm REALLY going home. :)"    (These are pictures Sister Taylor sent to me at dinner this week)