🎃🎶THIS IS HALLOWEEN🎶🎃

Hey hey! So it was a pretty good week and I can't believe the transfer is almost over. Hopefully Sister Christley and I will stay together next week!

For Halloween we carved pumpkins! Our Ward members that we did it with had a crazy kid who wouldn't settle down unless they turned on the Nightmare Before Christmas so that was on in the background the whole time. Honestly, I couldn't complain... 

Thursday hit me like a brick wall. I finally had a day where all of the frustrations and set backs of the past 15 months caught up to me and they kind of came out everywhere. Luckily, it was our weekly planning day so we didn't have to go anywhere for a while. I let myself get frustrated and down and compared myself to other missionaries. I couldn't understand how other missionaries could be finding people to teach when I had been giving my all and not finding anybody. I have always struggled with finding on my mission and was kind of at the last straw. I called Sis Bauer and she helped me SO much (no surprise there). I was kind of giving up that day but she told me that maybe Heavenly Father was pushing me to see if I would give up. I picked myself up off of my floor and got ready to go out. Basically, I was a whole big hot mess but that night we found a new investigator who wants us to come back next week and teach his family. I thought that was pretty cool. 

Sister Christley put some pizza rolls in the microwave for 13 minutes....yes, she thought it said 13 minutes for the microwave....well they came out completely black and she burned and cracked the plate. I went and checked the bag and it said 2 minutes. We then proceeded to laugh on the floor for like 20 minutes.

Hmmmmm, I think that's about it. It was great and I'm excited for today! We are going to play board games and go to a bonfire. Have a great week and pray I don't fall in!

LOVES ️

🔥🔥🔥

Sister Alex Solomon:

Good things this week!

There was a Polynesian choir that came down from Utah to perform for our stake and they were amazing! They are the Divine Heritage choir. Anyway, on Saturday they held a big luau at the stake center where they did tons of dancing and stuff. They had food there.....kahlua pork, rice, grilled chicken, pineapple, and macaroni salad. Mmmmmmmmm good! The host is from New Zealand and he was dang hilarious. He also did this stellar fire dance that I'm going to try to put in this email. The next day, they sang in 4 sacrament meetings and held a missionary fireside where they sang songs and bore their testimonies. We also got to have dinner with them that night. They were staying at the stake president's house (36 choir members) and he signed up to feed us so we went and chowed down on some ribs, links, rice, and potato salad that had all been cooking ALL DAY. Basically, it was the best weekend and I wish I was Polynesian now. I asked them if I could join the choir and if I would stand out and they were like, "You could TOTALLY pass as Samoan." Haha, it was awesome and I love them all!

I went on exchanges with my girl BAUER POWER and it was amazing. Even if we didn't have a whole lot going on that day.... she always inspires me to push myself and be better than I am. I got to see her and Sister Moss at zone conference on Friday and it was pretty amazing! We also got to go paint some houses on Saturday morning as a tri-stake missionary service project. It was great and I got to show off my minimal painting skills. I was cutting in the trim and everyone was like, "How are you doing that? Where did you learn that?" I thought it was just a common sense thing but I told them, "Well, my dad owned a painting business for a little while." Then they all thought I was a pro and kept asking me for help. Pft, yeah I'm not even good at it! Dad would've been a little disappointed actually! 

Anyway, Sister Christley and I are doing well and are having some crazy awesome times together.  I'm loving life and now just trying to find some solid investigators. #prayforus 

What do Joaquin Phoenix, Hillary Clinton, and salsa all have in common?

Sister Alex Solomon:

What do Joaquin Phoenix, Hillary Clinton, and salsa all have in common?...they were all part of my week! Here goes....I'm just jumping in because there's a lot.

We found a new investigator!! We were walking down the street and she was sitting on the hood of her car with her laptop so I made my companion go talk to her. We asked her how her day was going and she said, "Not too good....my boyfrien ask me to marry him and then he block me on Facebook..." We were like, "Oh no! How long were you together?" (This was Monday) and she goes, "Since Friday." so that led us into this whole conversation where we tried to teach and she kept bringing it back to her "boyfrien". Turns out, she is the CRAZIEST and we love her so stinking much. I asked what her name was and she yelled, "CHICA GARCIA"! Then, while we were teaching, she goes, "hold on a second," and runs inside her house. We wait a minute and she comes back out and proudly poses, with hands on her hips, with a bearded dragon on her shoulder while shouting, "THIS IS JOAQUIN!" So I said, "Oh cool! Like Joaquin Phoenix?" And she yells, "NO. Like Joaquin GARCIA." Anyway, she's insane and we go over there every couple of days. She likes to be taught but we finally figured out that Chica is slightly mentally handicapped so there's not a lot of retention going on. That's okay, though, because she's the best and we will still visit her!

Joaquin is my new best friend

The Salsa Incident: So last night, our dinner gave us a Mason jar full of homemade salsa. All the vegetables were grown in her own garden and it looked delicious! Well we stopped by a member's house nearby to pump up my bike tire. As I'm knocking on the door (and discovering they aren't home), I see Sis Christley bump into her bike and knock it over while the Mason jar goes flying. So that's how the Contreras family ended up with a driveway that looked like someone had puked all over it. She freaked out and didn't know what to do and so she starts SCOOPING UP THE SALSA AND BROKEN GLASS WITH HER HANDS AND RUNNING ACROSS THE STREET TO DUMP IT IN THE ROCKS. She goes back and forth a couple times as I'm watching incredulously and then comes back and goes, "IM BLEEDING" and proceeds to show me her hands now drenched in a mix of salsa and blood. I left a VERY interesting note on the door detailing everything that happened and then we went to the next closest member's house. Imagine their surprise when they open their door at 7:30 to the sister missionaries standing there yelling about flat tires, salsa, and bloody hands as Sis Christley is just waving her hands around to show them. Anyway, it's all good now but I have a giant hole in my tire. 

Other interesting things:

I went to the Ward trunk-or-treat and ran into Hillary Clinton! Who knew she was going to be there?! I had to get a picture because I knew no one was going to believe me.

What are you doing out here, Hillary? 

I had an exchange with Sister Moss, my trainee who is all growed up, and it was great! She's hilarious and I need her in my life more.

Overall, I love my companion, I love my area, and I LOVE crazy people and situations. It was a good one! 

LOVES ️

Meeting up for exchanges with Sister Moss and Sister Bauer

Good ol' Arizona in the Fall!

¡Hola, soy una misionera!

Sister Alex Solomon:

Well I'd say it was a pretty good week. I'm getting to know more of the members and am enjoying biking it up! Sister Christley and I have a blast and her new name is Sister Craze-ley. She gets randomly excited about things and does this crazy happy dance and it just makes me crack up every time! I love her and I think this is going to be a great transfer! 

I went on an exchange with Hermana Dueñas! She's amazing and I had the BEST time in a Spanish area! I was SO stinking full all day, though. We started out the day with a relief society activity and they fed us stupendous tostadas that were ridiculously spicy. They were so good though! 

The BEST tostadas and bread cookies

While we were out tracting, this random lady told us to come in for water and then she made us eat a bunch of pizza, tried to make us eat some KFC, and tried to give us iced tea. I was so shocked! I've never had a random person we tracted into let us in and try to make us eat everything they have! It was amazing! For dinner, we had homemade enchiladas with rice and it was SO good. We ate with the elders and a Ward member. Fortunately for me, they were really nice and spoke in English most of the time since I was the only one who couldn't speak Spanish.  I learned that I actually understand quite a bit though! I was able to contribute a little bit to our lessons that day but I mostly did a lot of smiling and nodding.  Also, I held a little kitten while Hermana Dueñas was teaching in Spanish and it fell asleep under my arm and life was perfect. 

Literally the face of pure joy

I have been really focused this week and I love it! We have around 60-ish missionaries that have been out less than 4 months so President Griffin has been talking to us older missionaries about how we need to build a curriculum to teach them everything we have learned before we leave. I've really been focused on passing on documents, trainings, and notes to my companion this week and just taking her out and showing her how to do everything I can think of. It really makes me see just how much I have learned this past year and I am constantly amazed at the things that I can do comfortably and naturally that I used to never think I could do. I see now just how much this mission is preparing me for my future and I would never change my decision to be here. 

Interesting things: A man was driving by us while we were biking and he yelled at us to pull in to Dairy Queen so we did. I thought he was a Ward member because he was talking like he knew us but afterward, Sister Christley said she had never seen him before. We looked for him in our stake records too and he wasn't there...so a random man bought us ice cream and made us take $20. 

Someone gave us a huge black trash bag full of loaves of bread. Seriously. They think we are STARVING. They literally gave us loaves upon loaves of bread. Why?! We physically cannot eat all that bread! 

When I came to the Ward, there were 9 investigators total....this week, 6 of them moved. Yep, 6. They aren't even all in one family! #missionaryprobs 

THE BREAD

SPANISH LAND

Sister Alex Solomon:

My first week in Spanish Land has happened and it has been so great! Unfortunately I have had a pretty bad cold the whole time though so I've just been coughing and dying everywhere. But that's okay!

About the area: I'm over one ward and on full bike which is awesome! BUT, our Ward is maybe like 6 square miles and if you looked at it on a map, you could see that's it's pretty much just a 5 mile long vertical strip so sometimes we bike from the top to the bottom in like 20 minutes and it busts my butt! Anyway, the missionary that I replaced in this area is Sister Young, my good ol' MTC companion...and she was here for 11 months....so basically, I get to hear about Sister Young A LOT from ALL of the Ward members. It's all good though; and I'm trying to do my best at thinking of this as MY area and making it my own. I've already gone through a bunch of the old stuff in the apartment and have pretty much cleaned everything from top to bottom so I can have a fresh start and I think my roommates think I'm crazy.

ANYWAY, I love my companion! Sister Christley is from Roanoke, Virginia and has only been out for 3 months. We really do have similar personalities and everything seems to be going fine. She told me she has laughed more this week than she has the whole first 3 months of her mission so I'm taking that as a good sign.

Biking in the POURING rain

Weird/Interesting things:  One of our first dinner appointments was a little old couple who proceeded to tell us about every rape/murder/shooting/crime that has happened in our area over the last 2 years. It's not THAT bad of an area but man, they had a pretty good list. They told us the last rape was just a couple weeks ago. Thank you, ward members..... We watched General Conference at the stake center and it was quite a different experience than what I'm used to! We walked in the chapel and walked right back out because the big screen was reserved for Spanish conference....yep, they were showing it in English in the relief society room off of someone's computer so that's how we watched it. In between sessions they had a HUGE lunch for everyone in the gym. I was so full of awesome authentic Mexican food. #fatandhappy Honestly, I don't even know what it was that I was eating but it was all great!

Conference was amazing, as usual, and I was pretty happy because some of our investigators here have been having doubts and questions about Joseph Smith. I'm hoping they were all addressed. My favorite talk was given by J. Devn Cornish and was basically a recap of Elder Holland's talk last conference.

Let's see, overall, I'm doing pretty well. This area is WAY different from my last and I'm really having to adjust. I miss my last wards like a TON #northvalley4life because I felt like I just fit in with the people there. So far, I've only met a few families but I'm not really feeling the click yet. PRAY FOR ME  I'm hoping I can love these people just as much.

LOVES

P.S. I don't have wifi in my apartment anymore and we have to travel back and forth to it so I won't be as good at emailing anymore....that's why this is so long...

TRANSFERRED?!?!

Sister Alex Solomon:

What the heck?! Totally did not see this coming AT ALL. I got the news this morning and I have a day to pack. I will be leaving fancy pantsy north Phoenix and will be heading to Spanish-land. What is even going on?! Anyway, I will be in an all-biking area again in the West Maricopa stake. I will be covering one Ward: Villa de Paz. When I got the news this morning, President called and said, "Is this Sister Solomon? I just called to see if you were hyperventilating." Yes, President. Yes, I was. I was mid-freak out while trying to get ready, pack, and talk to Ward members who want to see me before I go.

Anyway, I'm super sad to be going. I have grown so much in this area and I will miss these people like a lot. Seriously, a ridiculous amount of missing is going to be happening. I will also miss Sister Percival a ton! It has been a great month with her! BUT, President told me I will have a chance to see what it's like on the other side of the mission. Apparently, the side that baptizes a hecka lot more. So that's good? Maybe he was just telling me that to get me pumped. ALSO, I do not really know where Sister Bauer is in Spanish-land but somehow I will FIND her. She's over there somewhere and I will find a way to connect with her. I don't care what it takes!

Other than that, nothing too crazy has happened this week. I'm just going to be running around saying goodbye to everyone before I go tomorrow. I feel like I'm forgetting to say something so if I remember more later, I'll send more. Oh yeah, women's conference was good. Okay I think I got it all now.

LOVES ️

Somebody gave us "church hats"

Fall is sort of (?) here... 🍁🍂

Sister Alex Solomon:

We went to the temple this week! As a zone, last transfer we got 16 baptisms out of our goal of 9 so we all got to go together and it was pretty great. Sister Bauer got to come back too so it was pretty much an awesome day all around.

There was a giant spider on my pew in sacrament this week and it scared me so bad! It was seriously like the size of my palm.

We also ran into Sister ZALDIVAR from the District 2 (our missionary training videos) so I got to meet a missionary celebrity!

I went on exchanges with Sister Gunderson, ran a lot, and was super excited about all of the pumpkin things I saw this week. 

Overall, it went well and I have no idea what else to say. I'm feeling old because I'm getting to the point where I don't email you even half the things that happen because I feel like I can just tell you soon.

Love you all and hope you have a good week! ️

I'M A BORING ADULT

Sister Alex Solomon:

Quick update:

We just have one investigator, Fernando, who has been investigating for like 2 years....still looking for more though!

Sister Percival and I are doing well. We like being together but I think both of us are totally fine not being together next transfer. She had just already moved on from me and this Ward so it's super weird for her to be back. I have no idea who will be going but I think one of us will for sure.

Nothing too crazy has happened...I went on exchanges with Sister Arnold down in the Bethany Home Ward (which I love!) and it was super awesome. She is one of my soul sisters! I have been telling president for a year that I want to be in that Ward so if I get transferred, I hope its there!

Overall, I'm alive and doing okay. I really don't think anything else happened. Oh well.

LOVES ️

E.T. and I really wish I could phone home

Sister Alex Solomon:

Hello hello!

First off, my birthday was amazing! We went to Sedona, felt a vortex, visited a bunch of shops, checked out some crystals, got lunch with a fantastic view, and even watched this Indian guy jam out on his flute on the street. It was a pretty stellar day but very busy so sorry I couldn't really write.

Last Saturday, we moved! The mission office randomly called us and said we would be moving in with Ward members. I was a little nervous about that but we actually live in their guest house in the backyard and it's pretty awesome. It has nice tile and hardwood floors and has a full kitchen and bathroom with double sinks and all that jazz. Plus it doesn't have a couch that's loaded with scorpions so I'm fine with that. The only thing that I was sad about is that I don't have a gym to go to every morning now. But that's okay, I just run outside and the mornings are starting to cool off a bit so it's not that bad. 

THE DRAMA: on Tuesday, I remembered I hadn't written the mission president the day before so I wrote him a really long email explaining all of my thoughts regarding our area and my companion. It was another day that Sister Carroll was supposed to be leading and she wasn't. She didn't talk AT ALL and I was SO frustrated. Anyway, as we were leaving our last lesson for the night, we get a phone call from president. Basically, he told us that Sister Carroll was getting emergency transferred (E.T.'d) and that she needed to go home and pack so we could transfer as soon as possible. She was very upset and I was kind of guilty but relieved then feeling guilty because I felt relieved. We were to a point where I just didn't know how to help her anymore. I've been gentle, I've been bold, I've hinted at things, and I've also just told her straight up to her face what is expected of her and she just didn't do it. President Griffin interviewed her at the mission home last week and when they came out (she was crying), president got this big goofy grin on his face and said, "Sister Solomon, you're a nazi!" Oooooh my gads.....I could tell that he was proud though of how much I pushed her and how much I got out of her. I've been hoping this week that I didn't let him down by not making it the full two transfers with Sister Carroll. I just don't have time or room to put it all down here but someday when I get home, I'll tell you all about this last transfer and a half. 

Well, my new companion is Sister Percival! She came into the mission in February when I got transferred and I lived with her here for 4.5 months. I was in North Valley and she was in Daisy Mountain and now we are together over both and it's awesome! She is a crazy redhead from Spokane and I just love her to death. We have had so much fun together already and we have done so much more work than I'm used to accomplishing just by myself. I'm so happy with this but as far as we know, it's only lasting until the end of the transfer, Sep. 28th. After that, our companionship and sister Carroll's new companionship will be meeting all together with the president to help Sis Carroll decide if she's going to stay here or not....#awkward.

Things are going well. We don't have any investigators right now but we are always out looking! Our one Ward mission leader still seems to have problems with me so the mission president will be coming to speak to him soon...I can't wait! Oh yeah, and I got stung by a scorpion this week! It hurt pretty bad but we were in the middle of teaching an inactive member so I didn't say anything until we got out and it was burning! Now you know how hardcore I am. PFT. Trying to run 3 miles? I'll teach you the restoration while running beside you. A scorpion stung me? Oh don't worry, I'll finish teaching you about the atonement. Haha 

I'm looking forward to the next three weeks and I love you all!

Alex and her companion doing service in a member's yard.

New Address

Sister Alex Solomon:

3435 W Mesquite St
Phoenix, AZ 85086-0585

It's a long story and I didn't have any time to email today. Sorry! 

Alex Pics

Just 5 more weeks

Sister Alex Solomon:

What a week, what a week. Well transfers happened and I'm still with Sister Carroll. I'm missing Sister Bauer a lot and wishing I would have called her more when she was here.

Unfortunately, the guy we taught together last week texted right before our next appointment and said that he had talked to his dad and realized that "Mormonism" wasn't for him. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed. We are still looking!

I'm still struggling with my companion and am not sure what to do or what the mission president expects me to do. Please keep us in your prayers.

I'm excited for my birthday next week. A member offered to drive us to Sedona so we are planning on that. We might just look at shops and take a short hike or something but it will be fun and something different. In Black Canyon City there's a famous pie shop so I'm planning on stopping there on the way back.  It should be a good day, hopefully!

It has been a rough one but I've seen change in myself and have come closer to the savior through hard things. In the words of a cheesy song I listen to all the time, "I was lost but now, I'm not lost I'm found. It all started down on my knees. No, I'm not who I was and its all because someone suffered and died for me. I've had joy and I've felt peace, I feel His love inside of me. I've made my choice, I'm holding on, and I'm right where I belong."

I hope you all have a great week and that you know how much I love you! ️


 

This is so long and I'm sorry

Buckle up, because this is going to be a wild ride. I'll just start from last Monday so I can get everything right.

So we had p day and everything and then we were on our way to drop me off on an exchange with our mission's new French speaking sisters. While we were driving, we got a call from our bishop's wife (in Daisy Mountain) where she proceeded to tell us that our Ward mission leader had just passed away in a terrible accident. Now this was our WML who took care of us, did his job well, knew everyone, and was involved in everything. He was the best Ward mission leader I have ever had, hands down. We were in shock. We had just talked to him at his house that day. I guess he had a huge underground grain silo that got a water leak in it. When the grain gets wet, it sucks out all the oxygen from the room and emits a poisonous gas. Brother Tryon went down to fix the leak and passed out. After about an hour and a half down there, one of his workers, Juan Pablo, found him and went down to save him and also passed out. After that, a neighbor, Cristian, went down to save them and also passed out. Both Brother Tryon and Cristian passed away and Juan Pablo is on life support at the hospital where they are just waiting for family to arrive from Mexico so they can pull the plug. Needless to say, it was a very hard week for us and our Ward will not be the same.

I went on the exchange with the French sisters and had a really good time. They even gave me a Book of Mormon in French and I learned a few words. One of those sisters is from Tahiti so for our workout that morning, she taught us this awesome traditional dance that I'm sure I completely butchered with my lack of hip movement. Because of scheduling, it was a back-to back exchange so the next day, I went back to my old area and got to see Nanette again! It was an awesome day but I discovered I really don't like leaving my area for that long.

Fast forward to Saturday now...what an emotional roller coaster! Brother Tryon's funeral was that morning so all week I had been calling other sisters in the mission who served with him and telling them the bad news and what time the funeral was. He was a vet for the past 30 years and took care of EVERYONE'S horses plus he has lived here his whole life so the stake center was PACKED. Standing room only. He was one of the most doctrinally knowledgeable men I've ever known and had a photographic memory so he was always reciting scriptures at us and expecting us to know where they were. He loved animals so much but loved the gospel even more. When he got a call during church to go put a horse down, he would take care of it and would be trying to bribe the owner to come to church the whole time.  Later that afternoon, Burgundy got baptized! It was super stressful and she showed up about 20 minutes late but it finally happened and I'm so glad! It was a really exhausting day so we got home a little early and I cried it out for a while and then hit the sack.

I went on one more exchange with Sister Bauer for the transfer and it was the best day ever.  We accidentally ended up wearing matching outfits and we had like 4 random people talk to us about it and got to talk about our missions. We got a lot done, had a boatload of fun, and had a stellar experience! We came home at the end of the day and were picking up the mail. I was kind of in this guy's way at the boxes so I said sorry and moved to go and he turned and said, "excuse me, are you sisters?" He then ended up asking us a bunch of questions and shared some pretty awesome spiritual experiences with us. While he was sharing one of the stories, he was crying talking about the spirit and the words of the first vision kept coming to my mind and I was practicing them. I kept messing up because I haven't said it in a while… but then I just went for it and we taught the restoration right then and there at the mailboxes while other people were coming to get their mail. At the end, he said, "How do I get in touch with you so we can talk again?" We were SO shocked! But we said a prayer and exchanged numbers and we are meeting with him again tomorrow! Btw, his name is Troy and I'm so stoked.

It was a rough week but it ended well. In transfer news, Sister Carroll and I will be staying together for 6 more weeks. Unfortunately, Sister Bauer is getting transferred far away from me to Goodyear and I'm so sad. But, Sister Williams is coming back to my first area to finish her mission there! I will be so glad to have her back in the zone!

Sorry this is so long but I love you all and hope you have a good week! ️

This is so long and I'm sorry

Buckle up, because this is going to be a wild ride. I'll just start from last Monday so I can get everything right.

So we had p day and everything and then we were on our way to drop me off on an exchange with our mission's new French speaking sisters. While we were driving, we got a call from our bishop's wife (in Daisy Mountain) where she proceeded to tell us that our Ward mission leader had just passed away in a terrible accident. Now this was our WML who took care of us, did his job well, knew everyone, and was involved in everything. He was the best Ward mission leader I have ever had, hands down. We were in shock. We had just talked to him at his house that day. I guess he had a huge underground grain silo that got a water leak in it. When the grain gets wet, it sucks out all the oxygen from the room and emits a poisonous gas. Brother Tryon went down to fix the leak and passed out. After about an hour and a half down there, one of his workers, Juan Pablo, found him and went down to save him and also passed out. After that, a neighbor, Cristian, went down to save them and also passed out. Both Brother Tryon and Cristian passed away and Juan Pablo is on life support at the hospital where they are just waiting for family to arrive from Mexico so they can pull the plug. Needless to say, it was a very hard week for us and our Ward will not be the same.

I went on the exchange with the French sisters and had a really good time. They even gave me a Book of Mormon in French and I learned a few words. One of those sisters is from Tahiti so for our workout that morning, she taught us this awesome traditional dance that I'm sure I completely butchered with my lack of hip movement. Because of scheduling, it was a back-to back exchange so the next day, I went back to my old area and got to see Nanette again! It was an awesome day but I discovered I really don't like leaving my area for that long.

Fast forward to Saturday now...what an emotional roller coaster! Brother Tryon's funeral was that morning so all week I had been calling other sisters in the mission who served with him and telling them the bad news and what time the funeral was. He was a vet for the past 30 years and took care of EVERYONE'S horses plus he has lived here his whole life so the stake center was PACKED. Standing room only. He was one of the most doctrinally knowledgeable men I've ever known and had a photographic memory so he was always reciting scriptures at us and expecting us to know where they were. He loved animals so much but loved the gospel even more. When he got a call during church to go put a horse down, he would take care of it and would be trying to bribe the owner to come to church the whole time.  Later that afternoon, Burgundy got baptized! It was super stressful and she showed up about 20 minutes late but it finally happened and I'm so glad! It was a really exhausting day so we got home a little early and I cried it out for a while and then hit the sack.

I went on one more exchange with Sister Bauer for the transfer and it was the best day ever.  We accidentally ended up wearing matching outfits and we had like 4 random people talk to us about it and got to talk about our missions. We got a lot done, had a boatload of fun, and had a stellar experience! We came home at the end of the day and were picking up the mail. I was kind of in this guy's way at the boxes so I said sorry and moved to go and he turned and said, "excuse me, are you sisters?" He then ended up asking us a bunch of questions and shared some pretty awesome spiritual experiences with us. While he was sharing one of the stories, he was crying talking about the spirit and the words of the first vision kept coming to my mind and I was practicing them. I kept messing up because I haven't said it in a while… but then I just went for it and we taught the restoration right then and there at the mailboxes while other people were coming to get their mail. At the end, he said, "How do I get in touch with you so we can talk again?" We were SO shocked! But we said a prayer and exchanged numbers and we are meeting with him again tomorrow! Btw, his name is Troy and I'm so stoked.

It was a rough week but it ended well. In transfer news, Sister Carroll and I will be staying together for 6 more weeks. Unfortunately, Sister Bauer is getting transferred far away from me to Goodyear and I'm so sad. But, Sister Williams is coming back to my first area to finish her mission there! I will be so glad to have her back in the zone!

Sorry this is so long but I love you all and hope you have a good week! ️

This is so long and I'm sorry

Buckle up, because this is going to be a wild ride. I'll just start from last Monday so I can get everything right.

So we had p day and everything and then we were on our way to drop me off on an exchange with our mission's new French speaking sisters. While we were driving, we got a call from our bishop's wife (in Daisy Mountain) where she proceeded to tell us that our Ward mission leader had just passed away in a terrible accident. Now this was our WML who took care of us, did his job well, knew everyone, and was involved in everything. He was the best Ward mission leader I have ever had, hands down. We were in shock. We had just talked to him at his house that day. I guess he had a huge underground grain silo that got a water leak in it. When the grain gets wet, it sucks out all the oxygen from the room and emits a poisonous gas. Brother Tryon went down to fix the leak and passed out. After about an hour and a half down there, one of his workers, Juan Pablo, found him and went down to save him and also passed out. After that, a neighbor, Cristian, went down to save them and also passed out. Both Brother Tryon and Cristian passed away and Juan Pablo is on life support at the hospital where they are just waiting for family to arrive from Mexico so they can pull the plug. Needless to say, it was a very hard week for us and our Ward will not be the same.

I went on the exchange with the French sisters and had a really good time. They even gave me a Book of Mormon in French and I learned a few words. One of those sisters is from Tahiti so for our workout that morning, she taught us this awesome traditional dance that I'm sure I completely butchered with my lack of hip movement. Because of scheduling, it was a back-to back exchange so the next day, I went back to my old area and got to see Nanette again! It was an awesome day but I discovered I really don't like leaving my area for that long.

Fast forward to Saturday now...what an emotional roller coaster! Brother Tryon's funeral was that morning so all week I had been calling other sisters in the mission who served with him and telling them the bad news and what time the funeral was. He was a vet for the past 30 years and took care of EVERYONE'S horses plus he has lived here his whole life so the stake center was PACKED. Standing room only. He was one of the most doctrinally knowledgeable men I've ever known and had a photographic memory so he was always reciting scriptures at us and expecting us to know where they were. He loved animals so much but loved the gospel even more. When he got a call during church to go put a horse down, he would take care of it and would be trying to bribe the owner to come to church the whole time.  Later that afternoon, Burgundy got baptized! It was super stressful and she showed up about 20 minutes late but it finally happened and I'm so glad! It was a really exhausting day so we got home a little early and I cried it out for a while and then hit the sack.

I went on one more exchange with Sister Bauer for the transfer and it was the best day ever.  We accidentally ended up wearing matching outfits and we had like 4 random people talk to us about it and got to talk about our missions. We got a lot done, had a boatload of fun, and had a stellar experience! We came home at the end of the day and were picking up the mail. I was kind of in this guy's way at the boxes so I said sorry and moved to go and he turned and said, "excuse me, are you sisters?" He then ended up asking us a bunch of questions and shared some pretty awesome spiritual experiences with us. While he was sharing one of the stories, he was crying talking about the spirit and the words of the first vision kept coming to my mind and I was practicing them. I kept messing up because I haven't said it in a while… but then I just went for it and we taught the restoration right then and there at the mailboxes while other people were coming to get their mail. At the end, he said, "How do I get in touch with you so we can talk again?" We were SO shocked! But we said a prayer and exchanged numbers and we are meeting with him again tomorrow! Btw, his name is Troy and I'm so stoked.

Getting Naked.....

It was a rough week but it ended well. In transfer news, Sister Carroll and I will be staying together for 6 more weeks. Unfortunately, Sister Bauer is getting transferred far away from me to Goodyear and I'm so sad. But, Sister Williams is coming back to my first area to finish her mission there! I will be so glad to have her back in the zone!

Sorry this is so long but I love you all and hope you have a good week! ️

I think I need some human interaction...

Sister Alex Solomon:

Basically, I have been procrastinating ALL day and have not written this until now...at 5.... Oh well. We spent most of the morning deep cleaning our apartment because we found and killed like 4 scorpions this week. It was terrifying, yet sort of exhilarating. I now know that a frying pan is a very useful multi-purpose tool.

We FINALLY got some monsoon rains!! Friday was crazy and the interstate was flooded for a while. It was fantastic and I was as happy as a clam!

Ummmm, Burgundy is getting baptized this week. We are still struggling on finding any new investigators but we are still looking!

We had a good zone meeting and said goodbye to Elder Earl who has been in this zone for about 10 months. That's always weird. He was a good zone leader...even if he was really arrogant at times....

My companion and I have had some breakthroughs but things are still strained. Not a lot has changed this last week, to be honest.

Sorry I'm so boring. I'm doing okay and all is well. Just pray that Sister Bauer doesn't get transferred far away from me .  She is the only person who keeps me sane sometimes. I got to go on another exchange with her and got to see Nanette and the Capshaws! It was amazing and I miss them all so much! Seriously, life just isn't as fun/crazy/weird without them!

I'm trying to be more spiritual this week and to have better studies and to really get into everything because I kind of plateaued this week a little bit. I hope I can get back into the swing of things.

Hope you all have a good week! ️

I'm a stinky old pirate

Sister Alex Solomon:

Honestly, I don't really know what to write. Not much has changed. Things are still tough with my companion. We had interviews with President Griffin this week and he talked to both of us about everything that has been going on. It helped that day but the rest of the week has still been the same....maybe even worse. Let's see, let's see, news for this week…ummmm I held a baby turtle at the Sullivan's and it was amazing. They also asked for a request for dinner so they made some Thai coconut curry that changed my life. 

Turtle  Time

We started the new member lessons with Batrice and her 3 year old son called me a "stinky old pirate". We biked that day so I feel like it was pretty accurate. President Griffin let Sis Bauer and I go on an exchange together and it was the best day of my mission life. I swear I will go insane if he transfers her away from me.

#BauerPower

I got to speak in sacrament in my new Ward and it was pretty cool to finally stand up there with absolutely no fear. I really struggled preparing my talk so I got up there and just said what came to mind regarding the topic and I thought it turned out relatively well. 

We are still looking for new investigators. Burgundy will be getting baptized on the 13th! Things are slowing down and I'm only sort of sad. I need to have some time to just chill and teach my companion how to do stuff.

Anyway, things are fine. Nothing too great but nothing super terrible either. I've learned a lot about leadership from Elder Christofferson's talk, "As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten" from the April 2011 general conference.

Hope you all have a good week!

I swear I'm not a complainer out here.

Sister Alex Solomon:

It was good. Here ya go.

Laine and Lauren got baptized and it was the best thing ever! Lauren, the younger one, is just so excited about life and she could not keep this giant smile off of her face the whole time! Plus, her stepdad had never baptized anyone before so he kind of messed up on the prayer and the dunking so she was really excited that she got to go twice! Haha, it was awesome but they are moving to Texas this week and I'm so sad. I will miss them a lot.

We had a zone conference which was pretty awesome. President Griffin talked to us about how we've been pushing so hard that we are now the top mission in the North America Southwest area (21 missions) in all of our numbers which is fantastic! But he said that we haven't been having any fun lately so we got to take an hour out of our meeting time and play Mafia with all the other missionaries. It was awesome! I never got to be the mafia or a detective but I have to say that I was a pretty good ringleader for the mob of townspeople. I pretty much just started accusing everyone and almost got killed like 72 times but in the end, it was oh-so-worth it. Oh yeah, also, who is ALWAYS the mafia? SISTER FLIPPING BAUER. I love her but I'm sick of her trying to kill me all the time. 😀

I'm still really struggling with my companion and am having to do everything by myself.  #tryingtonotcomplain I've been pretty stressed but have stayed in contact with President Griffin and he's been helping me through it. He pulled me aside at zone conference and told me all these things about how I'm going to really have to push myself to be a leader and to be bold but loving and open with her. "Sister Solomon, I need my Montana girl for this one". 😊She's been out 9 months and has had 6 companions and 5 of them started going to LDS family services for counseling on stress and anxiety when they were with her (the 6th didn't only because she went home). Anyway, please keep her in your prayers. Me too, actually.

Other than that, things are going well in our area and I'm having some fun too! Burgundy won't be getting baptized this Saturday but it's just because of some scheduling issues… So she will be baptized next Saturday instead. I'm so excited for her but now we really need to focus on finding new investigators!

This week I've realized a few things about myself and my past. I used to think that I could never feel the spirit's influence in my life and that I didn't have a testimony. Someone gave a discussion on the spirit at zone conference and it really hit me just how much he has been present in my life, especially during high school and college. I used to think that I was just a boring person but now I know there's more of a reason why I never had the desire to do all the dumb things my friends were doing. Anyway, this sounds lame and I can't even express what I'm trying to say but I had an epiphany this week and it was great.

LOVES ❤️

YAH-TA-HAY

Sister Alex Solomon:

Hello hello! It has been quite a hectic week here in the APM! We are currently in the middle of our 3 insane weeks of baptisms! That's really great but also extremely stressful and overwhelming. A baptism should just be so happy and uplifting yet, as we were approaching Batrice's baptism this week, I thought I was going to run myself into the ground. It didn't help that we have a Ward mission leader who doesn't coordinate anything for the baptism like he's supposed to (he called and yelled at me again; somehow, I'm "overzealous" and a "slacker") and I have a companion who doesn't know how to do missionary work and is kind of dead weight on me. I know, I know, that sounds awful but it's oh so true. I have been so all over the place because I've had to do everything myself and I am NOT the most organized person....I'm getting there, though.

Anyway, that's all my complaining for the week because Batrice got baptized and confirmed!! It was rough at first when the person who was supposed to fill the font didn't show up on time, we couldn't find the right size of jumpsuit, and then Batrice told us she forgot about the white and her underwear was BRIGHT pink so we had to double up on the jumpsuits! It was so amazing though and was a good ending to a really long and stressful day. I've never cried at a baptism before but all the stress, worry, and work of the past 5 months kind of caught up to me as I was speaking at the baptism and I totally cried in front of everyone. It was super embarrassing but Batrice was crying too and she looked really happy. I read a message that Sister Gonzales sent for her and she loved it and cried more. I couldn't stop my annoying tears as she stepped into the font with her father-in-law, white shower cap and all, was baptized, and then gave him the longest crying/shaking hug ever. All in all, it was a fantastic baptism and I was so happy to be a part of it. 

     Forgive my awful crying face

 Now we have Laine and Lauren getting baptized this next Saturday and Burgundy the Saturday after that. I'll make sure to double check with them on the underwear thing. 

On to the funny parts: Laine and Lauren had their baptismal interviews this week so we were practicing the questions with them. We asked Lauren, the 8 year old, to explain what the word of wisdom says we shouldn't have. She then went on to list "I'm pretty sure it's alcohol, drugs, coffee, tea, and Tobasco..." During our weekly planning on Thursday, we got a referral for a man up in Black Canyon City who wanted a Book of Mormon. We gave him a call and he was so friendly and offered to have us over for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He told a few weird/corny jokes over the phone and as he was hanging up he yells, "YAH-TA-HAY"! Anyway....we went to meet him on Saturday and he is so crazy! He lives in this tiny trailer that is so small that Sis Carroll and I had to share a seat because he only had one and he insisted we take it. We tried to teach him the Restoration but he kept interjecting with his own stories about how he was going to start his own church and how "it's going to be in the biggest teepee you've ever seen". Haha, he also found a solution to our country's current political and economic crises: "FIRE everyone in there and put in a bunch of Injuns. They know what life's all about; I bet they wouldn't even want to be paid. Did you girlies know that you can't take a picture of an injun? If you do, you capture his soul"...etc. Needless to say, it was a frustrating lesson and my companion kept letting out long deep sighs like she does and I was just trying not to laugh the whole time. As we left, he yelled again, "YAH-TA-HAY! IT MEANS 'MAY PEACE BE WITH YOU AND MAY YOU FIND SAFETY IN YOUR TRAVELS' IN INJUN!" So I yelled it back and it was awesome.

I know this was super long and crazy email/week but it was also pretty cool and lots of good things happened. Even though I wanted to die for most of it, I'm grateful for every second! I'm finally to the point in my mission where I'm doing the work because I love doing it and helping people. I know I'm going to miss it someday so I'll do my best to take advantage of it while I can! 

LOVES ️

Goats🐐 Guns🔫 and Grandpas👴🏼

Sister Alex Solomon:

OHMYGOSH I have so much to write about I'm just gonna jump in. So I'm missing Sis Gonzales a lot this week! Only now am I realizing just how good I've had it for the past 3 months. My new companion is super nice and sweet but she struggles a lot and I honestly don't know how she has made it 9 months because there are so many things she doesn't know how to do! I really do feel like I'm training again. Except there's less crying from her this time (#mossisboss ) There are so many things I need help with but my main focus right now is the smell. I have never met a person that smells like this. I have been lighting candles every day and I just bought some febreeze but it's not really helping...suggestions will be gladly accepted!

As for the work? BATRICE IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY!! And she will be wearing her shower cap! Haha, she's so cool and I'm just really excited for her! Since we met her 2 months ago, she has made so many changes and is now a married woman...yessssssssss.  It should be amazing. The only thing she's still not completely sure about is Thomas S. Monson....of all things! She says that he's "scary and intimidating" when he talks. In that case, I'm not showing her any of Elder Holland's talks! Haha but she will be totally fine. What's even more exciting is that our investigator Laine is getting baptized the next Saturday after that! BUT IT GETS BETTER. We have a new investigator in Daisy Mountain who is on date for the 30th of July. That's 3 in a row! I'm dying! I'm just so happy because I have been trying ridiculously hard to be obedient these past couple of months and it's really easy to feel like nothing good is coming from it. July is awful but it's turning out to be one of my best months here!

Speaking of the Daisy Mountain Ward...I LOVE it. I'm still not excited bout covering 2 wards again but this Ward is SO different from anywhere else I have served. We went up to Black Canyon City on Saturday and not a single person we talked to had all of their teeth. There were a couple that didn't have any at  all. There was a toothless lady named Eunice who was super nice but lived in the scariest looking/smelling trailer I have ever seen in my whole life. She has 10 dogs, 7 cats, and 20 goats that live there as well and you could tell. I couldn't even breathe when I went to knock on her door but when I told her I had goats at home, she got so excited and took us out back to show us all of hers and ask if we wanted one! Haha, I'll take pictures of BCC next time we go this week.

Pretty much, the Daisy Mountain Ward is full of super old and super crazy people who moved out in the middle of the desert to hide. In other words, it makes for very interesting door knocking...no one has addresses on their houses and this Ward is a dumping ground for old records of people that no one can find so we have almost 1,000 people on the Ward records. The Ward mission leader and all the Ward missionaries are all men 75+ and they love to sit and tell old war stories during our coordination. One of them happens to be the same guy I met a couple months ago who told me that all the Muslims will "burn in hell forever". What a peach! Haha but they're all sweet and concerned for us. This Ward is famous for people pulling guns on the missionaries so there are these 2 old guys that take it upon themselves to go check out people's houses before we do and find them. We call them 'the bounty hunters'.

Oh yeah, also this week the nudist colony held their first annual nude games! Everyone was invited to attend but, sadly, we couldn't make it.  On top of that, we were driving past this tiny old saloon in the middle of nowhere New River, AZ and accidentally stumbled upon a Rick Springfield concert...What a week!

Overall, things are good. A little overwhelming sometimes but it'll all work out. Hope you all have a great week! ️ 

A very flattering photo of the district.....