"Thee lift me, I'll lift thee, and we'll ascend together eternally"

Hey!

This week was a hard one. But we all have those weeks.... for me
personally it was hard because a dear friend of mine passed away.
Sister Posadas and i have been teaching her, and on March 23 she
passed. It was hard for me to comprehend that i wouldnt be teaching
her anymore... But I am so very grateful for the Plan of Salvation,
and the knowledge that I have of life beyond this earth. We will all
need to pass, we don't know when, but we all will need to. It's
comforting to know that after this life we will have the chance to see
our loved ones again, and be with our Father in Heaven. Nikki was more
than just a friend... she is an eternal friend to me. She taught us
just as much as we taught her, and im so grateful to have gotten this
opportunity.

We had MLC this week, i love MLC i feel like I am able to learn so
much from those meetings. During the meeting we did a Role play on
certain sections in preach my gospel. Of course, we were all nervous,
but it ended up being my favorite thing to do. (I still get nervous
though) So, President Griffin chose 5 of us at a time to go up, and he
would randomly select a section for us to teach. My group had The
beginning of the plan of salvation. Each of us took turns in teaching
something within the section.... and let me tell you... the spirit was
so strong by the time we finished. That is one of my favorite things
to do now!

I was thinking a lot about my life... and where i was before my
mission compared to where i am now. Of course, Im not even close to
being perfect.... nobody is as much as we tell others we think they
are perfect....nobody is perfect. But, I am thankful for this
experience to be closer to my Father in Heaven, and to experience such
a christ like love for his children. It truly is one of the greatest
things i have experienced.

Im thankful for all of you.

Love, Sister Arnold

Pics: Zone meeting shenanigans

Unicorn poop, missionary life, meetings at 5:45am

Hello!!

This has been such a good week. We are at the start of a new transfer,
and i have definitely have some goals that i want to accomplish during
this next month and a half. One of them being, to fill my days, work
hard, and have fun. My cutie cute companion is going home this
transfer... *tear* so i just want to make it her best transfer EVERRR.
We have a lot of fun together, so it wont be hard to do..

So, this week we had district meet, met with less actives, and made
unicorn poop icing... it was so pretty and delicious.. haha (im sorry
i realize that im not normal, but the normal life is a boring life)
One of our members was making it, and so we decided to help her out a
bit!! I love the members in both of my wards, they are so loving and
kind and like to have a good time!!

This upcoming week is going to be pretty crazy.. we have a meeting at
5:45am with our stake president, (its okay he feeds us breakfast) We
have MLC, and zone meeting... so this week is going to be crazy. We
got a new investigator this week!! She is awesome, and during our
lesson I know she felt that Heavenly Father loved her.

Ive been thinking about that quite a bit this week... how much
Heavenly Father really loves each and every one of us. None of us can
even comprehend how much that love is. But when we look around, and
see all of the BEAUTIFUL and wonderful things we have been given...
its hard not to be thankful for him and for his love. He's given us
the earth, our families (very important) and this wonderful gospel. I
am very thankful for this time that I have to be a missionary, even
when its hard.

Have a good week. You succeed when you invite! Love everyone around you!!

1. I love this family, and the little preschoolers!!
2. Unicorn poop...

Greased pigs 🐷

Hello!

This week was fun, and busy! We had our ward rodeo on saturday, both
of the wards I am serving in went to this rodeo and it was so fun!
They had food, animals, and games! Sister Posadas and I did every.
Single. Event.... Which made it a lot more fun. So they had sack
races, egg toss, chicken chase, 3 legged race, annnnnnndddddd a
greased pig chase... They did it by age group, so of course the events
got harder as the groups got older. The pig chase was the funniest one
though. They started off with little baby pigs for the kids, and then
medium sized pigs for the youth AND THENNNNN huge... im talking giant
pigs for the adults. I can proudly say that i caught one of them. It
was hard, and very smelly.... but im proud of my accomplishment haha!!

So i had a lot of fun this week! We have had a lot of success in this
area with finding new investigators and doing service. I love doing
service...

It's the start of another transfer! Last transfer just flew by... but
I have set some goals for this transfer that i hope to achieve. Goal
setting is sometimes really hard, especially for me, but im very
determined to set these new goals.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Sister Arnold

1. AZ sunset
2. Nudist colony by our church
3. Rodeooooo
4.. Just some swine catching
5. The District

There will be no Bull riding....

OOOOkkayyyyyy, 

So, little story about my email title... I had interviews with my mission president on Saturday. It's always a wonderful time seeing good ole president Griffin. I love him, and he just cracks me up. we were the first ones to interview with him... and before my companion and i headed into the room, he goes "im a little grumpy today, but maybe if i talk to you girls first ill be nicer to the elders... this could be an interesting day!" HAAAA. He totally wasn't grumpy.. he was just his fun, sassy self. My two wards have a rodeo coming up with Saturday, and we were talking about bulls, and animals. President Griffin starts talking, and then he says: "Now, i dont want there to be any bull riding...." and i noticed that he's just looking at me... and he says "yeah, look who im looking at... sister arnold you are not allowed to ride a bull. I know you would do it" HAHA WHAT. What a funny guy. Needless to say, i got out of interviews alive, and all is well in the Phoenix Arizona mission. I just love my mission president and his wife. Great people. 

Anyways, this week was good. We are teaching and 11 year old girl. She is just adorable, and i love the lessons that i have with her. She has so many good questions, and it automatically brings the spirit in. I love it. We talked about Joseph smith, the Book of Mormon, and prayer yesterday. Im excited to see her next Sunday, and hear all of the questions that she has. 

Something that i have really learned on my mission is that nobody can force you to do anything. It makes me sad to hear about people who have been "forced" into going to church, meeting with the missionaries, ect. That is not how you gain a testimony, and that is not Christ like love. Christ would not make someone convert, christ would love them and try to help them along the way. Im thankful for parents, friends, and teachers who did not force me. And loved me despite my sassy attitude. I am grateful for this church, for the knowledge of this gospel, and for growing testimonies. Mine is growing every day! Love those around you, everyone is battling with something and you just dont know when they need someone to talk to. Be like christ! 

Love you all... 

-Sister Arnold 

Sorry not very many pics today... 

1. I made it in the APM newsletter... for being disgusting... 

2. Part of my area!! 

Sunsets with Robin, and my first talk

Helllloooo,

This week went by quickly... On Wednesday we had a fabulous dinner
with a member in the North Valley Ward. We stood on her balcony
afterwards and watched the amazing Arizona sunset!! Her view is
honestly really sweet, she told us that in the mornings she sees hot
air balloons front right outside her balcony!! I love Arizona...

I also gave my first talk in sacrament meeting this week... Yep, thats
right. Ive been on my mission for a year and this is the first time
I've given a talk.. ha!! Before my mission i heard that missionaries
literally give talks all the time.... but not me ;)

My talk was on service. I introduced myself... did the whole schpeal
(lol i dont know how to spell) and basically talked about my mission
and how important service is. I think it went pretty well...

This week i had some really cool experiences with prayer. I had
moments where i was just like "Heavenly Father... i cant do this right
now... i need help" and i have never felt so loved in my entire life.
Ive always heard of people saying that when they pray they feel like
God is literally hugging them.. Well, i felt that this week. I
literally felt like my Heavenly Father was hugging me so tightly and
that he knew who i was and he cared for me. It is probably the most
amazing experience i have felt, and I couldn't help but cry. I love my
Father in Heaven and i know that he loves each and every one of his
children. He weeps when we are sad, and he rejoices when we are happy.

I love this gospel, and i will forever be grateful that i served a mission.

-Sister Arnold

1. ROBIN!!!
2. My area is so pretty
3. Le district... eating crawfish...

Avocado ice cream

Heyyyyy,

This week was super exciting, filled with a lot of fun and running
around everywhere because we were super busy. It's a great thing!! I
was able to: 1. Brush horses for service.  2. Eat Avocado Ice cream.
And 3. Have a lot of fun while doing it and also seeing sister Bingham
and it just made me so happy.

OKAYYYY. So, there is a family in our ward that we do service for
every Thursday before dinner. We were going to pull some weeds in the
back yard when our member goes, "well actually would yall be willing
to brush the horses? They havent been brushed in awhile... so they
need it.." UMMM YEAH WE WILL. That was a cool experience. I also
braided the horses hair... apparently im good at it and should do it
for horse shows... I guess thats my next new job.

We had dinner with the bishop of the North Valley ward this week, and
that is where i tasted the delicious avocado ice cream. My companion,
Sister Posadas, is from the Phillipines and she said that she missed
eating avocado and cheese ice cream. He didn't make the cheese ice
cream... but he did make the avocado one and it is so. FLIPPEN. Good.
I highly recommend making some if you have an ice cream maker. its
probably one of my favorite flavors of ice cream now... So that was
fun!!

We went to the temple on Friday night, because sister Posadas'
investigators were getting sealed. It was a really amazing experience
to see a family being sealed together. Ive been to a sealing before,
but this one was different because the parents were getting sealed to
their 4 kids. I didn't know them at all, but it was still such a
spiritual experience. I love the temple so much.

I think my mission has really made me realize how much God loves his
children. This week we were also able to give food to two homeless
men. We just gave them some leftovers that members had given us, but
the two men were so thankful and appreciative. They didn't really want
to learn more about the church, but you could just see how grateful
they were.

Im grateful to be a missionary at this time. At the beginning I didn't
really know what my purpose was for serving a mission. People would
ask me, "so why did you decide to serve a mission?"
I gave them some vague answers that they were good enough with... But
I now know why I am out here and why this is so important. Im here
because i love my Heavenly Father, and i know that he loves me. I want
everyone to know that they have someone who loves them! I also know
that the gospel has blessed me, personally in my life. Im thankful for
the opportunity and for all of the wonderful people that i have met!

I love you all. Have a good week!!

P.s- i love sister Posadas

Love, Sister Arnold

1. A picture of some of my area, and my truck
2. Horse fun ( I could've made a really dumb joke but I didn't...)
3. Phoenix temple at night!!
4. It was raining and the mountains looked cool... so why not...

Don't dab at the table !

Hello!! 

So we were at dinner with a member and her kids were being fun and crazy and one of them "dabbed" at the table... and the mom said "don't dab at the table" and we all just started laughing so hard because..... it was funny..... 

This week was good, sister posadas and I have really been trying to get to know all of the members and offer service! Doing service is my FAVORITE thing to do. And if the missionaries in your area ever come and ask to do service for you.... let them... I promise that they will be the happiest campers alive. 

We had MLC ( leadership meeting) and zone meeting this week. So it was busy!! I really love going to MLC because I get to hear from the leadership in the mission, see president and sister Griffin, feel the spirit, and see some people that I haven't seen in a long time!! It definitely motivates me to do better after every meeting. This past MLC we talked about a lot of different things.. President Griffin gave a really good discussion on grace. He talked about how grace is everything that comes through Christ. Grace includes the ability that Christ is able to look past our imperfections and forgive us of our sins. He also went on to talk about our weaknesses and how we need to realize that we have both strengths and weaknesses, and that we can improve our weaknesses little by little. 

Zone meeting was fun. I gave a discussion/ role play on repentance. I started out with talking about what repentance is... and I asked the missionaries a few questions. I had them write down how they personally would want to be taught repentance, and why repentance is so important to them personally. I then had them do this repentance document that president Griffin has given us. It's really neat, it gives a bunch of scriptures of repentance and grace and mercy and a few others things. Then we role played! We did a big role play with all of us... the spirit was very strong! Definitely a highlight of my week.  

Life is good.. it gets hard at times and sometimes you feel helpless, but I can testify from experience that Heavenly Father is there with you always. He is always. There. Even when you don't think he is, and you just feel down. Pray! And he will wrap his arms around you. I know he loves each and everyone one of us.. 

Pictures: 

1. This is a sequence of me... at MLC. a sister dared me to fit as many suckers in my mouth as I could. So of course... I took the dare. I thought I was being sneaky until I fit as many as I could... and drool was coming out of my mouth and my mission president looks over and sees me. He starts walking over and he just starts laughing so hard. He then whips out his phone and says "send all those to me... we have to show the whole mission this" :-) so might as well send it to you. Plus I stunk at taking pictures this week. So this is for your viewing pleasure.