Family!!!

I love you guys!

Also, I've officially been out here for one transfer! A whole one! And we received a text last night that Sister Cope and I will continue serving in Fardale for this next transfer.

So Vances, it's a shame I'm not there right now to help with home demolition, because I am a pro! Give me a sledgehammer and the insulation and sheetrock will be down in no time! We are still doing clean-up, but they are phasing in church again, so that's good. We completely gutted out 2 houses on Sunday, until the inside were just frames.

On Saturday, we had the Relief Society General Broadcast, and it was so great, especially President Uchtdorf's talk. It was so great to mix and mingle with the sisters in the ward. And it makes me excited for when I come home to be more involved with church callings and activities. We had a soup potluck dinner for it, and it was very tasty.

This week at Ellis Island, I got approached by my very first "creeper" as Sister Cope called him. This Indian guy walked up to me and asked about missionary work, and that was normal. Then he asked if I had a boyfriend. Then he asked if he could take pictures in the building, and when I said yes, he threw his camera at Sister Amaud (another sister serving there that day due to a mix up--we had a blast that day) and told her to take a picture of us. I scooted as far away from him as I could and my face was trying not to laugh, so I'm sure the picture was awesome.

Missionary work is going well, though a little slow. The mission president rescheduled our leadership training from September to November, so we won't be doing that for a month. I'm excited for it though--apparently it's really neat.

I know I'm forgetting something here, but I can't remember. So I love you!

Oh, Nate and Wobin: a sister from New Brunswick texted us saying a Brother Wilson says hi. So that's cool! Happy Birfenday to Campbell girl! And what news on the job front?

And I'm so happy that the ol' Winnie is home. Ol' 4 paws!

Tell me all about California--who went, what ya did, and other.

Ok. Love you guys!

Sister Mister

P.S. I forgot to take pictures this week, so here are some from the 4th of July and also a really cool street sign from a couple weeks ago. Layou.

Catchin' flies at the fireworks.

Fun at the park!

?!

Sisters from my mission and New York South mission getting ready to do service

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Eating a gyro at Ellis Island.

Sister Cope being a dweeb.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Family!

Things are looking up here. People are still struggling after the storm, but it's getting better. We still haven't had a regular church meeting, but it's nice to be able to do service with the ward. It's starting to get chilly here! In one day it changed from hot and humid, to cold, but still sunny.

Thank you so much for the package! The office missionary couple handed it over, saying it was by far the best decorated package, and so it was! Thanks Libby for the Star Trek stationary. I nearly had a heart attack, and my companion is still trying to figure out why. Winnie is so becoming in a cone, and I loved all the other pictures! It's nice to give people a visual of my super awesome family.

I went to Ellis Island again, and I still acted like a tourist upon seeing the Manhattan skyline. I don't think I'll ever get less enthused no matter how many times I see "the City!" And we always see Mormons visiting there and they always stop to chat, so that's fun.

Sister Cope is still recovering from the aftermath of bronchitis. She doesn't have it any more, but she still needs a lot of rest. So I've been doing a lot of studying. The Book of Mormon is such an interesting read. And so much of it applies today--it's amazing! I've also been reading "Our Search for Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard, and that's a great book. We didn't teach a lot this week, unfortunately. And David cancelled our lesson because he lost his job, and then found a new one the day we were going to teach him. But we stopped by later in the week, and gave them coconut cookies. He's allergic, but Kristen liked them, so that's good. Today we are still planning on teaching them about the Priesthood. I'm so excited, and a member is coming to the appointment, so that's great. If any of the missionaries need members to accompany them for lessons, I'd try it out. It really makes a difference having another testimony there, and when the missionaries are gone, the members are their support system. So, family, don't be afraid to sign up! I just love you guys.

Stay safe. I love you!

Best,

Sister Mistipher

Monday, 9-12-2011

Jan and Family!

Everything's going well on the east coast. We have kept doing flood clean up, because some areas are still flooded. They are actually still under water, so this will last a grundle more weeks. We still haven't had a regular church meeting, just 30 minutes to take the sacrament and then go to our clean up assignments. I'm grateful for the opportunity, but I really do love church, so live it up in Utah for me. On Saturday all the missionaries in our entire mission got together to serve. In one house, the guy was on vacation and came home to find his house flooded. He had a good attitude though and just wanted to get done what he had to to move on. He took a sledgehammer and attacked a fixture in his garage he never liked, said, "That was satisfying! Here you go.", handed me the sledgehammer, and told us to go nuts. He was definitely one of the more cheery victims. His wife ordered us pizza, so we took a break and chatted. The next day a lady who saw us helping down the neighborhood had us talk with her for a bit. She was so appreciative of what we were doing in her neighborhood that her mother made us Italian knot cookies (which are delicious, and they have anise in them. Make them!)

Another neighbor on her street didn't need help, but was also grateful for the service so he dropped off a pizza at the lady's house to give to us. Community.

Towards evening we went around with assessment forms for people who need work done still. One lady we came to was so shell shocked. She and her husband run an at-home business, and everything was ruined. And her house was totally ruined. And then her husband, after the hurricane, was checking the roof for damage, fell off, and died. All that in one week. I am so glad we talked to her. Her neighbors have been helping as much as they can, and hopefully we can have a good crew come by soon. I just hope they aren't too rambunctious with tearing things down.

This week I had Specialized Training. It's for the new missionaries and lasts a couple hours. Our trainers went in a separate room and talked, while we sat in a group with President Jeppson and talked. It was wonderful to hear how everyone was faring. It's good to hear I'm not the only one getting used to all this. And it's also good to hear how excited and determined everyone is. Our mission president is the best. I've been praying for weeks that I would have more desire to be here, and that training was the answer to my prayers. I still know this won't be easy, but the days since that training I've been excited to get up and study and teach. Terrified of course, but excited.

I started driving this week. And it went a lot better than I thought it would! In New Jersey, there are zero rules, besides letting pedestrians go first. It is crazy, absolutely crazy the way they drive. Like Nate says about LA, there is ALWAYS someone there. But I've been doing pretty well and enjoying it, so take that city! I also went to my first Dunkin' Donuts. They are on every block here. You could combine all the McDonalds, Starbucks, and Walmarts anywhere, and there are still more Dunkin's in one city here. It was tasty, by the way.

We are meeting with David and Kristen tonight and we're teaching about the priesthood and general conference. I'm so excited. I hope they are receptive to it. Honestly, being away from a place where priesthood holders are everywhere to coming here, I am so grateful for it. Utah is absolutely amazing, and so blessed. But I'm glad to be out here to see just how amazing the church is wherever you are. Anyway, I hope our lesson goes well. We are going to invite them to general conference, and I really hope they say yes. I can't think of a better way to gain a testimony about modern prophets than by listening to them.

Well, I love you folks and thanks for the package! I haven't gotten it yet, but hopefully soon. Our next transfer conference is on September 27, but I won't go unless I'm being transferred (and I won't find out until 1 or 2 days before). New kids aren't usually transferred after the first 6 weeks, unless they are being switched to Spanish or something, so we'll see.

Also, apparently the hip slang in high school right now is, "Yo my dude(s)." So Popsy, if you want to sound hip and with the times, please start saying that.

Love you,

Sister Mel

Note from mom:

Missy's address is different from the one she gave us in the last letter. It is:

56 Howard St.

Pompton Lakes NJ 07442

So the town and the zip code have changed, the street address stayed the same.

Tuesday, 9-6-2011

Moimers and Family!

That's so exciting to think of Sarah and Jon and the house renovation! Good job kids! And Naters graduating and going who knows where, eek!

I'm actually living in Pompton Lakes, not Pompton Plains. We are in a two story apartment above another family who live on the main floor and basement. We have a separate entrance though, so we aren't connected to their living quarters. They are soooo awesome. They're a Muslim family and they just finished celebrating Ramadan. They fast for a month except for a few hours a day, and at the end they feast and visit family for 4 days. They made us tasty cookies. And their kids (Aya, Hussein, and Abdullah) are constantly helping us with groceries or talking to us about bikes or trampolines. Kids!

Two huge things happened this week. I'll start with the more depressing.

The hurricane really wasn't bad. But the flood aftermath was terrible. Most bridges weren't accessible for 2 weeks. And thousands of homes were flooded. Nearly every street in many cities around us has tons of debris. People have to get everything out of their homes, then clear out the carpets and walls, and put it in their front yards. So there are mountains of furniture, drywall, stuff, fridges, washing machines, etc. on most lawns. This week we haven't done a lot of proselyting because we've been helping with clean up. The insulation comes out in long strips, with brown goo all over it, and it looks like the worms from Tremors. The worst part of the clean up is that, in New Jersey, they have septic tanks instead of regular sewer lines. So when the flood came, it brought up a lot of you know what into people's homes. Going into cellars, basements, and garages that are full of that is awful. Not just the smell, but picking up piles of stuff covered in it. Out stake president cancelled church besides a 30 minute Sacrament meeting, and the entire stake, plus some others, and a lot of missionaries spent all of Sunday and Labor Day helping the community. I think there were 700 people helping out. It was tiring, but really great. We helped a lady, Debra, and her husband Felix clear out their home. When we got there she was still in shock. She had no idea where to start, or if she even wanted to. To us, it was just stuff to be moved, but for her, it was all memories. Even though it was covered in muck, it was still hard for her to say goodbye. She picked up a whale stuffed animal and told me her husband had won it for her on their second date at a carnival. It was really sad. Sister Cope and I were so grateful when we got home to a non-flooded apartment with food, and a washer, and warmth. We are very blessed.

On a less sad note, I went to Ellis Island this week! We drove in through the Korea Town of Jersey City and left through Little India. When we rounded a corner I saw...The City!!! We were allowed to cross a secret bridge to get to Ellis Island instead of taking the ferry. I got to go through the back rooms to the Family History Center. Once in, we strolled around computers and asked people if they needed help with anything. You look up a name and then act like a detective to figure out which in the millions is your family name. You can search their ethnicity or where they were going. You can see their ship and ship manifest, which lists their occupation and people they were visiting in the U.S. It was cool. We ate lunch in their cafeteria, and had to hover over our food since there were many, many pigeons and seagulls around. It was neat sitting on the large patio, listening to all sorts of languages, and seeing the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan skyline. Look at this one--all corporate! Then we went back in, but because it was slow, they let us sit in on a 20 minute play. I guess it's the 150th anniversary or something, and so they were commemorating it with a stage production about Emma Lazarus, the woman who wrote "The New Colossus." (And thanks to Popsy, I have that one memorized!) It was very interesting. I was sad to leave at the end of the day, but I'm excited to go again at the end of September.

Well, I love you all. Keep safe, and enjoy Utah because it's the best place on earth!

I love you,

Sister Mistifer