"We Managed to Lose our Car"

Hey everyone!!! 

This week has been crazy!!! We ran around all day on Monday trying to get me packed, ready for transfers and I also tried to say goodbye to everyone in the Van Nuys 1st Ward. I was able to stop by and see a few families. Monday night we had dinner with the Ikahihifo family! They made homemade Cafe Rio for dinner and it was SOOOO good! 

Halfway through our crazy night one of the main roads shut down because a church caught on fire! We were stuck on the street for 30 minutes as we watched 11 fire trucks drive by and 2 helicopters trying to fight this fire! It was a very exciting night! Nobody was hurt and they finally got the fire under control!

So, I am back in Reseda for the third time and my companion is Hermana Dunn!!! The first time I met Hermana Dunn was 16 months ago, very early in the morning, at the Salt Lake Airport on our way to Mexico City.  We were traveling companions and then we ended up being MTC Companions!  She is so awesome and I am excited to be back with her again!

The Ward in Reseda has been so surprised to see me again! It has been fun to go back and see everyone that I love so much! I have visited all of my "Resent Converts". My favorite was when I went over and surprised Rafael and Lorena!!! I didn't take pictures with them but I will this next week! They started screaming and hugging me! They couldn't believe that I am back in the area!

Rafael continued to tell me all of the 500 things that I had missed in the last few months.... he is so funny! When we went over to visit them we taught about the Word of Wisdom again and played a game of naming different foods and if they were good or bad. Rafael said I was cheating because I kept saying all of his favorite junk food because I knew they were his favorites, haha. I love that kid! 

Most of this week Hermana Dunn and I have been running around trying to find new investigators! It is crazy to be walking down the streets of Reseda and my old investigators stop me and say, "Hi". They are even surprised to see me back! It really has been a blessing because last night we were trying to figure out who to stop by and a part member family, who are not on our records, popped into my head! So, I remembered where they lived and we went over to their house and picked them up as investigators!!! I am so excited to be back and help Reseda again!

Also, crazy thing that happened this week....we lost our car. The Elders gave us a ton of crap for it because they didn't understand how we could lose a car, but we did. We had to park really far away from our appointment and afterwards it was dark and we were really lost. Hna Dunn and I were walking around pressing the red panic button to honk the horn for about 25 minutes... but we found it, haha. It was really funny because we felt so stupid just walking around these neighborhoods trying to find our car! 

I hope everyone has an awesome week. Sorry I don't have a ton of pictures but I will take more this week! Keep on being awesome!!!

-Hermana Hadley 

Hermana Hadley saying goodbye to the Ikahihifo Family Monday Night. 

She is really going to miss them.

While emailing at the computer store Hermana Hadley and Dunn sent us a 

snapshot of them through the computer :)

"Third Times The Charm"

Hey everyone… So, I have news.... 

1. I am going back to Spanish work

2. I am going BACK to RESEDA!!! This will be my 3rd time there!!! I got trained there and then went back and left again... and now back again!!!

I guess I still have some work to do there in Reseda, the ward is going to be so surprised to see me AGAIN!!!  This week we had a baptism of Richie McCloskey in the English Ward. It has been fun to teach and see him progress. He is very interesting, but in a good way :) and he is going to be a great addition to the Van Nuys 1st Ward. We were very busy getting everything ready for the baptism, but we were able to get it all worked out finally! It was crazy, but really good!

So a quick rundown of this last week, we had Halloween so we got together with other missionaries and watched "Meet the Mormons" and had Pizza! I saw Hermana Starke!!! We didn't even watch the movie we just sat down on the ground and talked the whole time :). I miss her a ton and she is doing really well in her area right now! After that we went home by 7:00 pm .... missionary life isn't as exciting on Halloween.

Also, this week we had to say good bye to both Elder Zazueta and Elder Lytle because they are both going home  :( The time goes by really fast! We had a "funeral" for them. Elder Zazueta had a Mexico flag on him and Elder Lytle had a California flag. Don't worry I have pictures haha.

This week I really focused on why I am here on my mission. It is always good to re-focus on why you came out and who you are serving. Sometimes missionaries get a little too caught up on the craziness of a mission and forget that all you have to do is do your best, and be focused on our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as you do your work. Even if people don't accept that or think otherwise, you just know that you are doing your best with a smile on your face! Have a great week everyone! 

-Hermana Hadley

Richie's Baptism!

Some of the Costumes with the Companionships

The Zone :)

Hermana Hadley and Hermana Starke on Halloween!

Mom Note: I noticed that Hermana Starke is wearing Hermana Vincent's Nametag, 

I think this was her Halloween Costume :)

Funeral Time...

Hard to say goodbye :(

Saying Goodbye to my Sweet Girls!!!

More pictures from Richie's Baptism!

Hermana Hadley, Richie, Sister Aleman and our fantastic 

Van Nuys 1st Ward Mission Leader, Brother Dalumpines. 

The Dalumpines Family has really been a wonderful support this transfer and I will miss them. <3

"I Spy With My Litte Eye"

Hey everyone! Today I will write a little bit about my week. I took a ton of pictures of my adventures! First off, it was Sister Aleman’s birthday this week and because it was her birthday we were able to go to the LA Temple and do a session! It was so great to just sit peacefully in the temple and feel the Spirit for a change and clear my brain because as missionaries we are always running and running. We went with a member from our ward who had the day off of work, she was so sweet to take us. 

Thursday was Sister Aleman’s birthday so I made pancakes and we had a Zone lunch where everyone surprised her. Elder Zazueta even had a confetti gun... I don't know how the heck he got one of those but he did! After that we had an awesome training in District Meeting where we talked about "The Force" where Elder Zazueta brought light sabers and everything... that guy hahaha! We talked about how important the Spirit is and how we need to teach and find by the Spirit aka the force. 

Saturday, we had our ward trunk or treat! It is so weird being in an English ward where they do things like Super Saturday and Trunk or Treat, but it was a ton of fun! We even did a trunk!!! I went to the 99-cent store and the ward members were so impressed that we participated! We handed out candy and pass along cards with pictures of Jesus, the kids thought it was really funny! We did the activity combined with another ward so a lot of people came up to us and asked us if we dressed up as missionaries or if we were the real deal;). I told them yes... it is us in the flesh! We were a hit!

Well, I have a ton of pictures for this week so I will let them tell the rest of the stories of the week! Hope you guys all have a wonderful Halloween!!!  Until Next time,

Hermana Hadley 

The birthday trip to the LA Temple, Happy Birthday Sister Aleman!!!

I Spy with my Little Eye...the Hollywood Sign!!! We could see it from the temple haha! Just look really hard and turn your head to a 60 degree angle and close one eye and you can see it ;)

"The Force"

Elder Zazueta and Elder Losse had way too much fun!!!

I told a member that it was Sister Aleman's Birthday, they got her a cake and then...

...I shoved her face in it!

 It is a Latino Tradition to shove the face of the Birthday person in their cake. The family that got us the cake are Latino so I knew they would not be offended. Sister Aleman was very suprised haha!

This is our Trunk at the "Trunk or Treat"

Our bowl, which happened to be the spare tire, filled with treats and Pass Along Cards :)

There are only so many resources that are available to missionaries to dress up for Halloween! I was dressed up to be a Cow Girl and Sister Aleman was going on a Safari! People just thought we dressed up like missionaries haha!