Sister Akayla Juliann Ferrara: Hello Everyone! 4/13/2015

It has been such an excellent week! I don't even know where to start...

It was transfer week, so we had a lot going on!

Monday night after Preparation day we had our deep clean of the Trail Center and since we were going to have all the sisters here we decided to have a dinner together so we asked every companionship to bring a specific topping for hawaiin haystacks! It was such a fun bonding time for us! Then we scrubbed the TC probably the best that it's ever gotten and organized so many things. I love being the leader and telling people what to do haha jk ;) Anyways, earlier that week we got together with Sisters Hodges and Fronk (stls) and decided to have a surprise easter egg hung so after we were done cleaning we had everyone go downstairs to do a "get to know your companion better" activity while we went upstairs and hid eggs all over the gallery. It was so much fun! Exhausting, but definitely a success! I felt like a mom preparing fun activities for my kids :)

Tuesday we went on exchanges with the Kanesville sisters. I went with Sister Slater in her area in Kanesville. Man, what an interesting day it was. She has only been out for a transfer, so it was nice to get to know her better. Their area is very dead. They have very few people to teach, so throughout the entire day we only taught 2 lessons and they were our lunch and dinner appointments. The rest of the time we were going all over the place trying a million and one less actives who weren't home. It was a little discouraging and a very long day, but I tried to make it super fun and help Sister Slater realize that sometimes you're going to have days like that, but it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong. We had fun :)

Wednesday we had district meeting and then were at the Trail Center that night.

Thursday-new missionary tour! I LOVE Thursdays before transfer day. Finding out all the changes and getting everything figured out. Then we were at the Clinic that night. We were there until like 8. Super long night! Since the clinic was closed last week there were so many people that came in, so we had to be super quick at the restaurant afterwards so we could get home in time. Sure missed Dr. Fischer! It had been weeks since he had taken us out, so it was a lot of fun to see him again :)

Friday we went to transfer point. Love it! We lost 16 missionaries this time, and only got 7 new ones. We do have 2 new sisters at the TC though, and didn't lose any this time. Woohoo! They are both from Utah...figures. And both are so awesome and enthusiastic! After transfer point we went back to the house, got our matching slippers, snacks, and blankets and went to the TC to work on the schedule and everything else we needed to do for New Sister Orientation the next day. We were there just about alllll flippin' day. I hate the schedule. Since this transfer is 7 weeks long, we did 4 of the weeks when usually we would only do 3 now and then 3 later. It was a killer. We got the first 2 weeks finished and got zone trainings figured out, and then 2 sets of zone leaders texted us and told us they had to make some changes...AHHHH! We got it all figured out though. I think Sister Brower was about to throw me across the room after that day. I wasn't the nicest sister in the world.

Saturday morning we discussed General Conference for TC training, and then got ready for New Sister Orientation. It went very well! It was actually nice that there were only 2 new sisters and their companions because we were able to have more one on one time with them to get to know them and answer their questions and things. Then we had a wonderful lunch at the Crandalls and then were on shift that night. Pretty great day!

Sunday we had church and Valeri came. She is getting so close to getting baptized! She won't be able to be baptized on my birthday unfortunately, but I honestly didn't think that was very realistic. She is working on not smoking, and throughout this whole week she has been eating a lot of chocolate to replace the cigarettes and it actually made her really sick so she was puking a bunch which wasn't very fun. She went from smoking 20 a day, to 5 a day! She's going to be baptized so soon! I just know it! She has come a long way. I love her so much :) It was a pretty weird week for me. Didn't have too much time in the area. Only exchanges and Sister Brower went in our area, so I didn't teach a single lesson. Pretty discouraging. Made me realize how much I love teaching! I can't imagine my life without my mission. I love being in this leadership position and I learn something new every single day. I love NE <3 Love you all! Have a good week!

Sister Ferrara :)