Lake Elsinore. Week 1.

letter from Nov 23

Being transferred is a really weird feeling! It kind of felt like I was leaving home all over again and restarting a mission. But this time I knew a whole lot more about my purpose, about how to do missionary work, and a whole lot more Spanish. It has been cool to see how I work without my trainer, and how much I really did learn from her. The part that has been the most different is coming from an area where the work was moving along really well! We didn't have very many investigators, and none that were super solid when I first came in here. We found a few more this week that we are going to start working with and I'm super excited! I am determined to get the work up here to the speed that it was in Hemet. I know that no area is better than the other to find people. Maybe it might be a little harder to find people here, but that just means that we need to work harder. Hermana Gomez and I are going to be working hard to pick up and maintain investigators. I have been following the council of Preach My Gospel, and praying for the ability to see more opportunities to share the message of the restored gospel. Yesterday, as we were getting out of the car to go up to a door, there was a family across the street. Instead of just walking up to the door, we went and talked with the family and have a return appointment. It's awesome how we can see the Lord's hand in the work, as we just go to the basics of what we are asked to do. I'm grateful for this chance that I have to work in a new area and learn more about what I need to do.

How bout this area though? It's a lot prettier than my awkward little Hemet. There is a lake right in the middle of the city. There is a cute old town and they have lights around the trees. It's so cute! But the Lake is really cool. The other day, we were talking to these 2 boys leaving their house to walk to the lake. I didn't even realize until like a day later, that those boys were just leaving their house and walking to a lake. Like that's so cool! I wasn't able to get any pictures of it this week, but maybe soon you will be able to see it. Or if you even Google Lake Elsinore I'm sure you can find it that way too. The only tricky part is that there is small neighborhoods spread out all over the place. And a lot of the times, if we pull off a main street to go find a house, we pull onto a dirt road. And those dirt roads through trees and in the dark are pretty sketchy. But it's fine. I still love it.

So the past two weeks, every morning I have been reading a chapter from the Book of Mormon and the New Testament. It's so true that the Bible and Book of Mormon work together to testify of Christ! It's been really cool reading them at the same time. I'm so grateful for the scriptures and I love them so much. It was also helpful in a lesson yesterday! I was able to share something to answer someone's question from the Bible that is also testified about in the Book of Mormon. Heavenly Father really did think of everything. He's so great. I read from John chapter 6 this week, and I really liked it. It's a longer chapter, but I advise you all to read it!

So this week for Thanksgiving, I will be eating with a really cool family! The Esteves family. I've seen it spelled maybe 4 different ways, so I don't really now. They all sound the same though. But they will be having a whole bunch of family over at their house, and we have been invited to join them! I'm really excited. It will be super fun!  I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving this week! Time, is actually what I don't understand. Like how is it already Thanksgiving? Don't know. But I want to try and bring some candy corns to our dinner this Thursday and see if they will let me share a tradition! I'll let you know about that too.. If not, I will just do my 5 kernels of corn over and over until I finish the whole bag of candy. :)

So the scripture that I was ponderizing this week was 2 Nephi 32:5. It says, "For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." This says that after we are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, we will have the guidance that we need to do all things that are in the will of God. This has been really important for me to remember this week. As I have been working in an area that I don't know, with people I don't know, and with slower work than the last area, it has been so important to me to just remember the promise of having the Holy Ghost with me. As I truly put all my trust in Heavenly Father and his Son, The Holy Ghost will help me say and do the things that are needed in order to get the work up in this area. I am so excited to continue meeting new people, and to find those that Heavenly Father has prepared for Hna Gomez and me.
I hope you have the most wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the Gospel of Christ every day.

Love,
Hermana Sager

Sid didn't send any pictures this week so I' ll add a few from before she left.

Hermana Sager 

The last time I had my arms around this beautiful girl!!

Lake Elsinore--Looks a beautiful place to serve the Lord

Hemet5ever has been cut short

Letter from Nov 16

Hemet5ever is no more. I'm being transferred! Today, I leave for Lake Elsinore. Saying goodbye to members and investigators was hard yesterday. I don't want to say goodbye to my companions. I have been with Hermana Babb for my whole mission! And Hermana Rutherford is my mission mom. They're both so good and I have learned so much from them. I love everyone I have met here. I'm so excited to just go meet more people in Lake Elsinore. Having to leave Hemet has made me realize how much harder I need to be working. I'm excited for a fresh start in a new area!

When I heard that I was going to be leaving, it made me sad, because we have a lot of investigators that are progressing right now. But the cool part is, is that I will be able to come back for their baptisms! Hermana Rutherford and Babb will be in a trio again with another Hermana who is coming in. I know that they are going to continue working with who we have. Heavenly Father's plan is so perfect in all things. You just need to have the faith to trust in Him! Put all your trust in Him, and He will take care of all the little details.

So this week, we saw a lot of progression with all the people we are working with. Marvin and Karla, a younger couple had finally kept the commitment of reading the Book of Mormon, they've been coming to church, and Marvin really wants to be baptized! We have been working with Lorena for a long time. We finally were able to find some members to come with us to the lessons with her this week, and it was so good! She accepted baptism for December and said she knows that everything we said is true. A man named Jorge has been talking with missionaries since his wife got baptized at the beginning of this year. He finally accepted baptism for January. And the Garcia family that we have been working with all came to church on Sunday, including the dad! It was so awesome. The kids have been preparing to be baptized by the end of this month and the parents should be ready too, if they would have more time to meet with us. So many tender mercies that the Lord has blessed us with for working hard. This week, we had over 10 scheduled lessons fall through. Even though plans changed every single day, we never gave up! I love being able to see the Lord's hand working in the work here when we are simply just being obedient and have a desire to work hard. I am so grateful for all the work we have had here in Hemet. I am so grateful for everything that I have learned and for all the people I have met. I am ready to go and meet new people and help them to understand the importance of the restored gospel. I love doing missionary work.

Also this week, we developed a Ward Mission Plan for next year. Many of the goals involve having more ward activities, and then inviting everyone to all the activities. This is such a simple way to be involved in missionary work. Especially as the holidays are coming up! If your wards are having any activities or even just family activities, invite others to join you! When we spend time together for Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is easier to share your gratitude for the Savior and his teachings. I invite all of you to think and pray about someone that you can invite to some sort of activity the next two months. Share the love that God has for everyone and share your testimonies too! I know that Heavenly Father will help you as you desire to love and serve other people. 

Thank you for all your support and your love! I hope you have a wonderful week as you get all ready for Thanksgiving in the next couple weeks.

Love,
Hermana Sager

When I get Sid's new address  Ill post it here and you can all send her christmas cards!! She would love to hear a little from everyone!! 

This is Marvin and Karla and their kids, Nathan, Alison, and Natalie. They're all so cute! 

This is Chelsey, an investigator, and her cousin Teirsa, who is a member.
They're both so cute! Teirsa was a vending machine for Halloween. 

The blanket that I bought last week is like a cloud. It's so warm and so soft and perfect. I love it.

 It's name is Brad Paisley. B.P. for short. I only took it off of my body maybe 2 times this week. 

This is a picture of here as she arrived in  her new area Lake Elsinore.  

California Freezin'

Letter from Nov 9

Hello friends and family. 

This week I heard that it snowed in Utah. I don't know if that is entirely true, but I hope you are enjoying the snow! That gives it a reason to be cold. Here, it is just like 70 degrees and I cry when the wind blows. Okay, so maybe it's not that extreme. But I wish I had snow here! Even though it's not my favorite, it just seems so weird for it to be November, and I know there isn't going to be snow. I feel like the biggest whimp. I was so hoping that my body wouldn't adjust and that I wouldn't get cold in the whimpy weather. I'm not a full whimp yet, so I guess there is still hope.When its 60 degrees here and everyone is in sweats and big comfy warm clothes. 60 degrees at home was always nice... I guess it's different too when you're always wearing a skirt... Let's just blame it on that:)But that's okay, I have a lot of better things to do than play in the snow. Being a missionary is the greatest. 

here was my outfit for when I was cold but still had to wear a skirt to study. 

Okay. So before leaving, everyone always told me that I would be having 2 different dinners almost every night. That sounded terrifying. It finally happened yesterday! We went over to some of our investigators house after church and studies. Our appointment was at 3:30. So we show up and we are talking to them about how church was and if they had any questions. We talked about the Sacrament, and invited them to be baptized. They're so good! When we invited them to be baptized, the dad asks, "So how often do you have these baptisms, so we know how to figure out our schedules?" Like what?! SO GOOD! And then after telling him, baptisms just happen whenever the person is ready, he looked a little more comfortable with the idea. Then he asks, "Is there a fee?" When we said no, he goes, "Oh. Ok then." and just kind of nods in agreement. They are such a good family! So if everything continues to go well, they should be baptized by the end of this month! After talking to them for a while, he says, "Okay, now it's time for dinner!" Hermana Rutherford and I just looked at each other and slowly agreed. They fed us a Mexican meatball soup with rice. It was so good! It was just a whole lot. Since they fed us, we ended up staying longer than we had planned, so we were out by 5. Then we went straight to our dinner appointment! Luckily we're pretty close with the members that we had dinner with. They were very kind and let us take the dinner to go. We just had to eat dessert with them and then share something. They're very kind. It was just a day that made me so happy, because our investigators are the cutest, and then the members didn't force us to eat a second dinner. And Hermana Vielma (the member friend) made us scarfs. She's very sweet, and could be considered another Mexican grandma to us. 

Time is going by so quickly. It's slightly terrifying! Not only does time go by quickly, but there is not enough time in the week to get everything done that we want to! That's something that we are going to be working more on this week. We need to be better at how we use our time and asking the members to help us. Splits with the members are so fun! I wish I would've gone on splits before I left. It would've been so helpful. I feel like it's such a good way to learn a whole lot! I encourage you all to find some time to go out with the missionaries! Even if it's not splits, and you're just helping them out. They will love it! And if you are a missionary and you're reading this.... Then find ways to get the members to trust and help you more! Trust and love are so important in order to help invite others to come unto Christ. If we help and teach with trust and love, others will be able to recognize the Holy Ghost and the love of God. Those feelings with drive them to do something more. 

We are still working with a lot of the same people that we have been! They are all slowly progressing. I still just think it's so amazing how I can feel the smallest amount of love that Heavenly Father has for all his children. I know he loves you all so much too! Look for ways that you can feel his love, and see the Lord's hand working in your life. 

You're all great. 

Love,

Hermana Sager

Jesucristo es nuestra hope.

Letter from Nov 2 (combination of group and family)

Last night while teaching a lesson in full Spanish, I decided to mix things up a little bit. I was talking about the doctrine of Christ as we read from 2 Nephi 31. I was just talking, and then I said something that didn't seem quite right. I had said something about how Christ is our hope and we can receive strength from him and his teachings. The whole thing was in Spanish except for the word "hope." I didn't even realize it until I was slightly laughed at. It was really funny. 

So how bout the time change? That was nice. It's bright when I wake up now though. And it gets dark at 5:30. So we're going to have to start walking earlier so we can get it in, but then no one will be outside because they're all still working. That's fine. I still know that Heavenly Father will put all the nice people that we need to talk to outside. I still love walking and talking. The other night, when we were walking, there was a whole bunch of children outside. People kept asking us about our "costumes" and we were like... "We have no idea what you're talking about." and then people kept handing us candy and then kids would just ask for it back. It was the strangest night. I guess that's what you get for walking on October 31 after the sun goes down.... (okay so maybe that didn't happen) But Halloween was fun! As missionaries, we weren't allowed to be out past 6:00. So we all went to the church, and were locked in until 9:00. We got it approved to watch a special movie... We were able to watch THE BEST TWO YEARS. It was so great. I was dying. It's so much better as a missionary. And then imagine 23 missionaries all watching it in the church gym. A lot of them hadn't watched a movie in over a year. It was a very funny situation. I loved it so much. It's the greatest movie ever. Watch it for me once more. 

This week I have been reading in 3 Nephi. When reading in chapter 17, I found some cool verses that I learned a lot from. So I would like to share them with you. As Christ is talking to everyone here in the Americas after his resurrection, he tells everyone that they need to go home and think about the things that he has taught them. He then tells them that they need to pray to Heavenly Father to understand the things that he taught, and to prepare their minds to understand more. The people were in tears, as they wanted to stay with Jesus longer. Christ had prayed for all the people while staying with them, and the words that he prayed were not written down. The people said that no eye can see or ear can hear the things that Christ spake unto the Father. It is also described that no tongue can speak or heart can conceive so great and marvelous things. No one can conceive of the joy that the people felt as Christ prayed for them. 

We need to always be praying to Heavenly Father to understand the things that we are reading in the scriptures. We need to pray to have help to understand the things that Heavenly Father wants us to learn. You can do this every single day, but especially before you read the scriptures. You will be able to receive the answers that you need. You can feel of the joy that these people experienced as well. When Christ was suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed for you. He knows what you need, and wants you to ask Heavenly Father for his help. I know that Christ is our Savior. I know that we can receive strength from him.

I hope you had a great Halloween!

Now that it's November, I think I'm going to buy candy corn, peanuts, and pumpkin pie. 

Love you all!

Hermana Sager

​Here's the view from my church parking lot. If you look super closely,
 then you can see the S on the mountain for Sister Sager.