I'm Home

I am sitting here outside old navy because I forgot my keyto my bike lock. thanks for not forgetting me on mondays. That was fun to have an email and I am glad my mission email still works-but dontknow how much longer it will work for? Well I also wanted to let you know that you have a great talk yesterday and i am glad you had some nice things to say because I ran out of things before my time was up. I really miss being on the mission but I am realizing that spending all my energy missing the mission won't bring it back, so I just make the best of utah. I am so glad you got to come to florida and meet all my best friends. my last week in florida..well i loved it cause that is where i feel like home is. and it was fun to have you there. it was weird at the same time but i am glad you came. sorry we didnt get to do too much tourist stuff, i should've been more considerate of the time and let you guys choose some of the stuff we got to do. i hope you had fun though. as you already know, being home is weird for me.. i am still trying to figure things out.. trying to find what Heavenly Father's will is for me now.. and I hope and pray that I will understand it and love it, no matter what it is. I love you sooo much mom. Thanks for all your hard work and preparation to make yesterday and my return to utah special. you are the best. te amohija meryl

Oscar & Aracely with Hermana Call

Hermana Call & the familia Nunez

Hermana Call & familia Cano

Hermana Call with the Garcias

Baptism

ohh my. i never dreamed this dreaded time would come as quickly as it has. i cant sleep so good at nights and kind of hope that if i dont fall asleep the next day wont come..but it always does.. I cannot believe it. it's the most bittersweet thing thats ever happened in my lifetime. it seems like everywhere i go and everyone we taught this week was crying.. well that didn't help..
Heavenly Father has blessed us way more than I ever asked for. All I wanted this last transfer was one baptism. Well it just so happens this Saturday night we will be having 2. Oscar and Aracely will get baptized in the Hollywood Hills Ward. I can't wait!! I wanted to keep it a surprise but... I couldn't. They had a little going away party for me yesterday.
Good things are happening with the rest of our investigators. I know this area will have great success in a short time.
We went to a lesson of the Hatian investigator, we taught it with the Creole Elders. They fed us Hatian food. My first time eating it. I'll tell you about that story a little later on..
Sisters Conf was incredible, I had to talk for a little bit of things i wish i'd known sooner. i have a list of that, so it wasn't hard to come up with a few to share.
on sunday we had the stake pres, President Hale, and Elder Gay of the 70 speak at our ward. it was really nice of them to come see me my last sunday. it was the fullest chapel we've ever had. Bishop annonced that it was my last sunday which led to me having more attentnion than i wanted that day.
last night we did a special FHE on Christ. Sometimes I dont realize how strong the spirit is because I'm so used to it 24/7..but i felt it last night
and i testify that
Christ Lives
He loves Knows each of us by name
and He loves us.
I look forward to seeing you all soon... (taylor, february=soon)

love you sssssssooooooooooooooo mmmuuuuuuuucccccccccchhhhhhhh
hermana call

It's Been Raining

Meryl and Manual

Taylor Street

The Hollywood Zone

Ahhh

what the heck wait a minute where did the past 17 months go? i am freaking out just a little trying to know what i can do while i am here and doing my best to find the Lord's will for me, for hollywood hills south, for my investigators.. i had a goal to have one more baptism my last transfer. it'll be a miracle if that happens because i'm fasting praying and doing my best testifying and teaching and helping these dear people understand why i am doing this work! please pray for maria, susi, oscar, hector, aracely, gerardo, and nori. each one of those people are so special to me. i love them so much. i wish they understood why i desire their salvation, but even more that its not a desire I have but that God has! we have had a busy busy week teaching and i taught more lessons this week than i have in a while.. one day we taught 6 lessons, and they were all excatly the first set of plans we had for the day. didnt have to use any backup plans! :) there has been a lot of crazies we met, including one where i asked where he was from and he told me "my mother's womb" and another when i asked the same question he got very offended and told me that was a rude question to ask and told me it would be like him asking me what color underwear i had on (hm. he was probably illegal). well i just want to advise you all something and i will do so by sharing this story..we were visiting a young family in the ward and their 8 year old was playing pokemon cards. i told him there is a pokemon that has the same name as me. we looked through his cards and he didnt have it. he then realized he didnt know my name and asked what it was..i told him hermana call.. he thought about that for a second and then said "there is NOT a pokeman with that name!"
we are teahcing this cool guy from Hati but he lived close to DR so he speaks spanish too! i've never taught anyone like that before. it's really cool. but at the end we asked him to pray in creole and he had his wife come do that prayer, but she didnt just pray she put on this knit bandana thing on her head and then placed one hand on my head and one on sister lima's and did this scary yelling prayer in creole.. it was weird.
well i don't have much time i want to just end by telling you how much i love you and thank you for all you do, including your prayers.
at the end of my PPI last week, President prayed with me and he told me that angels will be with me at this time. i know you are all far away but i know you are my angels.
i love you.
hermana call

Hermanas Call and Hebdon

At the Hollywood Tri-Rail

At the Park

A Week with Changes

hey there. how yall doin. things are good in hollywood hills.. a week with changes but they were good ones! yesterday i finished reading the Book of Mormon. I love It. So much. I know it's true, and I love to testify of it multiple times a day, every single day. I am so lucky! I had a J - Dub this week LITERALLY BEG US TO CHANGE. She was almost in tears as I told her I never would. It was interesting to me to see someone who had that much love for their religion.. we dont meet too many of those. Hermana Hebdon and I wanted to set up a table at Sedano's (a Latin grocery store) with a sign for free Book of Mormon but they said no so we went to the park (see photo.. ) well that wasnt successful but it was fun. Friday late afternoon we got a call from the assistants who told us that Saturday Hermana Hebdon would be transfering to West Palm Beach. So my companion here is Hermana Lima. She was born in Brazil but grew up since she was 4 in Conneticut. I like having a comp that speaks Portugese! plus i like Brazil and am secretly rooting for them in the World cup.. well it was interesting the way the we were prepared for the transfer, becuase on thursday during weekly planning we updated so many things. it is scary being all in charge of this area, and its a very good thing i have my TomTom. i recieved a challenge this week from my district leader to offend someone with love. i am happy to announce that i sure did it. we met with Gerardo.. oh speaking of him my prayer list is Hector, Gerardo, and Oscar.. when we met with Gerardo I HAD to talk to him about baptism again. as i knew the time was coming in the lesson i said a prayer in my heart and then told him how much we love him.. and how much Heavenly Father loves him.. and basically tied it into faith and told him if he wouldn't get baptized he doesn't have faith. my heart was pounding as i said it all the nicest i could and as lovingly as i could. i also told him i would fast for him so he can recieve an answer. well he still didnt commit to baptism but the morning Hermana Hebdon left, he called and told her he'll get baptized. he hasnt told me that yet, but we have an appointment wednesday so i hope that we will set a date. that time was the fastest i've ever spoken spanish in my life.. haha it probably didnt even make sense but i think he could understand by the way I felt. well i am living my perfectly planned life as a missionary right now and love it, i sure dont look forward to changes but i know that for the future also Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for me. So I will trust in Him and focus on whats going on here and now. oscar and his 9 yr old nicole came to church yesterday, he still wont pray out loud but his MEGA DEATHLY shy daughter prayed, she repeated the prayer i wispered to her. also we met with hector yesterday and pushed back his bap date for july 11 he just wont be ready next sunday. but then halfway through the lesson he tried to break up with us (my way of saying he wanted to drop himself) but i told him no that he doesnt have that kind of control in this relationship (heavenly father does) and by the end is is excited again to be taught. yesterday at church since Hermana Hebdon left nobody can play piano so i would NOT play in sacrament but i did a little in primary and it was awful..wish i would've practiced more when i was 10..
i have learned that serving a mission wasnt really a sacrifice at all. i love it.
also i have this lovely scripture i will share with you.. Moroni 8:3.. it is the same way i feel about each of you!
have a good week. i love you so so sooooooooooo much!!!
Hermana Call

"Do They See Him in You" Ft. Lauderdale Mission Conference

Meryl and her MTC Elders

Friends

Meryl with President and Sister Lake

The Best Day

hey everyone! i hope all is good.. thanks for the emails. sounds like lots is going on where you are all at, and i am staying busy here in hollywood. saturday was possibly the best day of my mission ( or at least top 3) as i learned of my Savior Jesus Christ's love for me. I bore my testimony in front of the whole mission (SO SCARY- i never dreamed that i'd do it in a sports bra and tennis shoes) but it good. As I have spent time studying about the Atonement and what the heck that word even means, I found much of it making sense to me on Saturday and was able to bear my simple testimony of the love I have and feel from my best friend, Jesus Christ. I was so nervous. But He helped me as I stood there in front of the Great Ft Lauderdale Mission, in front of like 130 missionaries that are better than I am, but it wasn't for them that i was doing it.. it was for Him. I am pleased to give my time to Him (i am working on not saying the word "PROUD" i will trll you why later).. but it was good! i loved the National Treasure day we had, i could just picture dad the whole day loving it.. it was a day full of small and large miracles for Sister Call.. I recevied gifts beter than i could have imagine. i love you all so so much and testify to you that we are an eternal family because of Jesus Christ.. and i love that.
have good week!
hermana call

Sister's Exchange

Meryl with the Newlyweds

Meryl and Sister Fiala

Meryl with Hermana & Hermano Vargas

Hola Hola

hola hola how is everyone. i am writing quick! no mucho tiempo! i am mailing a box home today- mom dad watch for it, and feel free to open it when it comes but yes there are fathers day things in there. it is going to be fuill of books and will be heavy. the stewarts reception was great and i wanted to stay all night.. i loved every second of it.. i forgot how much i love the poeple in hialeah. we had 2 invest at church! i heard its been a long time since they have had 2..usually here in hollywood hills south they have 1 or 0. so that was good. gerardo is still praying about july 4 for baptism but i think he'll figure it out! he is great! every time we go he shows us the parts he read in the BOM they are marked in red and he takes notes during our lessons and has such good ?s and he calls us almost every day and tells us what he read that day. he is about 50 and from niguraga. he is single. today we are going over fror p-day he is teaching us how to make gio pinto (sorry cant spell). my spanish is a little better and gets us by. we had sisters exhanges on wed-fri. sis gardner came here, and it was interesting cause i dont really know the area and also she speaks no spanish so we had a good 2 days and i learned a lot a lot. the other guy at church we met on saturday while riding bikes. hector, about 30 yrs old from cuba. dont know him too well yet but he rode his bike miles to get to church sunday so i like him a lot already. on fri night walking down a main road we approched a man and he kneeled down and like was worshipping us it was freaky weird. he is from somewhere near pakastan. well then he was like kissing our hands and that was weird but i told him to GET UP and then he invited us to dunkin donuts for donuts and coffee well being me and i said ok before hermana hebdon could breathe.. i just really like adveentures so anyways we have a new friend but he is muslim so we'll see how that goes. i have been meeting so many russians and south africas and other places.. i met a man also saturday he was convinced he is Jesus Christ and that was weird.. i am trying to finish the BOM in the next few weeks i am in 3 nephi 20 and I LOVE IT also i love you all so soo much and sorry not longer
hermana call

At the Orlando Temple

With the Elders

With Oswaldo at Church

Hermana Call & Carlos

Call Street

Hollywood Hills South

hellloo from hollywood hills south.. hope you all had a good week (mom did i get an email from you? ..i dont think so young lady) and i sure had a good week.. i served before in hollywood hills north so i am getting to know new members although a lot of the ward is the same, its good to be back! i love this ward! we dont have any invest with baptismal dates right now, and not very many progressing. mostly just 1. so please pray for gerardo and jenifer! it was weird to leave my home in homestead..my bed for 5 1/2 months.. but i'm all settled in here in HH and love it. saying bye to a family in homestead (the smiths) President Smith (2 counselor in stake presidency) said he googled "south fl temple" and my blog was in the top 3 hahaha wow so he looked at my blog and that is so embarassing.. i hope i said good things! driving up from homstead to plantation last tuesday we got to see the sacred land where the temple will be built! yay!!! it'll be incredible! being in the orlando temple was..ohh dear i have no words.. it was beautiful. i loved it. what a special day that was. i learned so, so , soooooooo much and wish i could go again tomorrow! well i think the 3 elders thought i was dumb i cried so much that day haha but i loved it. ah. i am with hermana hebdon, she is from utah..oh my i forgot what part.somewhere near cache valley. she joined alpha (my sorority at the U) right after i left on my mission. so we have lots of friends in common. this is her 3 transfer in the mission. she had the same comp her 1 and 2, so it is fun to bring new ideas to the area and companionship. we are struggling with spanish together but hers is better than mine even haha. its good that we are both young in spanish and will learn together! tonight will be great.. elder stewart and hermana fiala aare here on their hunnymoon and they are having a reception in hialeah so tongiht i get to go with the hales to the reception! ! well that guy gerardo is legit and we have just taught him once but he's de nicuragua and super cool. on saturday we had something really awesome called la cena internacional. each country in the ward had a table and the members from the country brought food.. so i got SUCH GOOD FOOD that night, it was a fundraiser for boyscouts but missionaries ate free. there was probably 15 or 20 countries. yesterday at chruch i had to bear my testimony in spanish hahah soo embarassing.. it was the second time i did it in the ward and i proabably said the excat same things i did the first time. ha. i live with sister zitting and christensen and LOVE them, i am happy where I am at and look forward to the time i have to serve in hollywood hills sur.. have a good week my lovies and talk to you soon!
xoxoxoo hermana call

Homestead's Final Hours

hi family, how is everyone doing? i am in my final hours in homestead, i will go to the orlando temple tomorrow (that still hasn't sunk in yet), then off to my new area tomorrow evening. I dont know when I will find out where I am going, I guess I'll find out sometime tomorrow. it has been a really good week but sometimes its been really hard. one of the most difficult things for me is this.. when i am a little sad or hurting inside and poeple tell me allll their problems, and i have to be strong and help them and forget about myself.. i guess charity is a Christlike attribute that I am obviously not perfect at yet. this work is hard. frusterating. but sooo happy and wonderful at the same time. i have been brave this week and done something i've always wanted to and never had the guts to.. i pack a little zip lock with pass along cards and tuck it in my shorts when i go running every morning. i have met people this week that i've only said "hi" to for 5 1/2 months. i had one of the most embarassing awkward moments of my misson this week and will tell you about it later. just ask. not over emial. Aida was sweet telling me that we are sisters and i have had a hard time saying bye to these people but it has been ok cause i just say i'm just leaving for a few weeks then i will see them all at church :) we had a super cool thing with this lady teresa but its a long story too, maybe i will make a tape.. next p-day. still got some packing to do :) i know that all good things must come to an end.. and this bittersweet feeling of saying bye to homestead is just a beginning of whats coming soon and i am not too excited about that.. on sunday some of the elder's recent converts -a dad and his 2 sons (who got baptized same day as Aida) blessed and passed the sacrament.. what a special thing that was, and for the first time in my life i feel as if i might start to understand a ity bitty tiny fraction of the Atonement. I am so excited to be able to have the opportunity tomorrow to enter the temple, and do the work for a dear family member. I love missionary work, and i know that without temples this missionary work would not all get done. hope all is well, where ever you are. have a good week. i love you!
sister call

Hello There

hello there how's everyone doing? a few things. Marci- thank you to you and anyone who may have helped me get a family name to take to the temple. will you send me a name pronunciation next week, i just want to make sure i am saying it right. also, merideth and grandma elaine... is she the lady we visited in st george and went to chili's or applebee's with? do you remember that? i got another returned mail of something I tried to send Ninny. I dont know why it keeps getting returned-thats 2 things now. i copied the address exactly. what should i do? if this is being copied onto my blog, i want to send a shoutout to my buddies at knight bikes. best bike store ever. i have learned so much this week about the Atonement as I read this book that President Hale approved for our mission, it is called the Continuous Atonement. I just got it for $15 from the mission office. I love it. we are stuck teaching Heaven. we have taught her everything but she doesnt feel like its right to be baptized. although she loves church and everything. so i had my PPI wednesday and President kept speaking some in spanish and some english then telling me that was a hint soo i am getting transferred next week to a spnaish ward the last transfer of my mission. it will be weird since i haven't been in spanish since october. i will move the 1st and then go to the temple the 2nd. so excited for the temple! i have no idea- but if i guessed where i'm going, i think Hialeah with sister lowe. how dumb i will feel if i go there and people will say, oh sister call didnt you serve here more than a year ago? and you didnt speak spanish? and your here again and you still dont speak spanish? hahah i can just see that happening.. and i'll laugh the whole time.. then go and try to learn spanish. pres told me about transfers early cause he wants me to be practicing espanol..cada dia.. so i am! and at PPI president made sister crane senior companion and the driver. its the first time in like 5 months i haven't done that, its a bit of an adjustment but it's ok. last night we had the temple fireside, it is now called the South Florida Temple, not the Ft. Lauderdale temple. we saw pictures (computer rendering but they look real life) it will be beautiful! they think ground breaking will be the end of this year.. sad i'll miss it but i want to see it when its done. it will be a medium size temple. well i dont really have much else to say for this week except that i love you all so much and hope you are all doing well . have a good week
sister call

Aida's Baptism

With Jordan and Jordan

Hermana Call & Sister Denson

Sisters

Camel Ride

Me and the Dinosaur

Dear Loved Ones

hello dear loved ones. first off i wish marci a happy birthday and mom and dad a happy anniversary. random news. those coming in july i found out miami lakes is 9-12 and homestead is 1-4 so we will be going to both wards. brush up on your espanol. i ate some applesauce this week that expired in 2008. i think that must've come from a food-room-clean-out project. i think this got erased from mom's tape but my friend bridget (contact her through casey) she is going to the mission nate fank is coming home from. i want them to talk if they can. ask casey when bridget leaves and see if nate will be back before she goes. my exchange with sister denson was soo fun.. the zoo was a blast and the exchange was soo good. i learned so much sister d! she is such a good missinoary and has grown soo much since she and i served in boca. i sure love her. on tuesday we had one of my best days in homestead :) every house we went to, the person was there. we got a new investigator. lots of the people we went to see were not on our initial plans.. which means (and i'm not trying to brag) but i followed the Spirit to know where to go.. i have been trying so hard to listen to the Spirit to confirm my plans. it was a really neat day! we followed this guy raul (a member) the other day, he told us he wanted us to teach his friend so we drove behind him but he kept driving south and we we ended up 20 miles from key largo.. the furthest south i ever been. pretty cool! I am working real hard on trying to understand the ATONEMENT. any advice? the baptism was soo good. 5 people got baptized. i love Aida for makign this choice. She was confirmed yesterday in sacrament meeting. also jordan (who i taught before at jordan collie's) he got baptized! it started way late and there were long talks so it didnt end til late saturday night but it was all worth it. Aida's family all came so i got to meet her husband daughter and (i already knew them) her 2 grandsons. hopefully they felt the spirit and we can teach them! sis crane and i taught sunday school yesterday 16-18 yr olds there were 9 of them.. ah. kinda scary but they are all my good friends so it was good! this is a list of reasons that you know you've been a missionary for 15 months.
1.your skirts and tops are getting thin so you always have to wear a slip or undershirt
2.your garments are so thin. i wont say any more details.
3.your next phone call home will be before your brother's next phone call home
4.you feel uncomfortable when people say my first name
5. you give people directions depending on where i am in relation to the ocean ( you know like you do it with the mountains)
6.people tell you that you drive like your from miami
7.90 degree heat dont bother you
8.you get more letters from friends you met here than you do friends you grew up with

uhh ok that was supposed to be funny but sorry if it wasnt
i hope you all have a good good week and i love you so so much
xoxoxoxoxoxo
sister call

My Quinceanera

A Special Day

Incredible Exotic Fruitstand, Robert Is Here

Things Are Good

hola how's everyone doing? things are good here in homestead, today before we switch for exchanges we are going to the miami zoo with the miami 4 sisters. should be fun! i had the best (ok and the only) quinceanera ever.. thank you for the new clothes and presents mom and dad! did you pick out white on purpose? that day sister crane wanted to surprise me and take me to eat latin food but its hard when i'm the driver to make anything be a surprise.. but we did go get cuban pizza (which is so delicious) and that was fun. we spent a lot of time this week tracting in the redlands (like the everglades but the opposite side.. i cant really explain sorry) but it was so quiet and peaceful i almost felt like i was in UTAH. weird! it was nice to get away from miami for awhile. but the peopel that live there in the redlands have their own way of doing things and not much success came from it. tanner hale (president's 19 year old son) went in the MTC this week. he left FL on tuesday night. i had zone conference on wednesday morning, and the hales told us they dont have family in utah to pick him up from the airport so they had a friend pick him up. then they showed us a pic of tanner that morning with the Uchtdorf's. too bad for tanner, right :) we got these nice new phones they are just like my blackberry i had! i dont know how we afford that, but oh well. i learned we are the only mission in the world with texting .. i think thats what the said.. but i could be wrong. we sang a childs prayer at zone conf. sis crane and i sang 1 verse then some elders the 2 then the combined part we switched to spanish. it was really cool. aida is still good to get baptized sat night- yay! xavior and heaven are praying about the 22, and so is julian. when we extended the date michelle automatically said no and that was too bad, i thought she got the restoration but i guess not :( its been 90 degrees and its real hot while riding bikes, but its also been raining some. so no matter what people think we are crazy. we met this man sylvester he's like 65 but he has 21 kids.. wouldnt that be a sweet family to baptize haha. we have a new elder working in homestead south he just got here he's from tonga and i have a hard time understanding him, he's learning english. yesterday in gospel principles i had to stand before the class and recite the first vision.. i did it perfectly but sometimes i have such a hard time doing it cause i know it so much better in spanish so i say it in spanish in my head and translate it. then we had a nice lunch during relief society put on by the elders quorom. omar came to church by himself, michlle took the kids for the day and she's starting to frusterate me, but i'm so proud of him as he prepares and works towards getting the priesthood and as he becomes active again. i love this work, i'm so glad i get to be serving where i am, right now apart of this work
love sister call

ello

hi guys how's everyone doing? this week was fine. will you pray for Aida, Julian, Michelle, and Heaven. Yes we are teaching a 13 yr old girl named Heaven. That's perfect huh! She's really cute but a little gothic.. lives with just her dad, her dad is 100% supportive but doesnt want to learn for himself. well all 4 of those people didnt come to church yeterday but we did have 3 investigators there. this guy at the bike store frank, his friend james (those are the 2 guys we went to lunch with last monday) james came to church. and last week at lunch he was drinking alot of alcholic beverages so we gave him a word of wisdom pamplet and well he obviously didnt read it cause he showed up to church yesterday and hmmm how do i say this. you couldn't get too close too him cause his breath smelled like beer! ah!! i've never had an investigator come to church drunk. the other 2 were kedesha's family. she is in NY but her 10 yr old daughter and her little bro who i think is 11, they came. Sister Latty (who is Kedesha's co-worker and orignally invited her and picks her up every week) she went and picked them up yesterday. so that was good to have 3. this satruday morning we have a baptism in the ward.. you know jordan collie. well he has a friend named jordan nunez (who is 14) and they've known each other for life. jordan n was at jordan c's house once and we taught him.. he wanted to continue going to church so he has but the homestead south elders taught him cause he lives 2 blocks out of our area! lame. but so happy he's getting baptized saturday, and how cool the jordan is already being a missionary! we had a training by my zone leader this week about sacrifice.. so i'm focusing a lot on what i can sacrifice. it hasnt been easy but i am giving up a a few things for something i want more.. like i give up some journal writing time at night so i can get more sleep.. cause i need it! but i am still writing in my journal every day. a few days ago we were driving and i asked sister crane to call rickie to see how he's doing and make sure he got connected with missionaries in NY. while the phone was ringing i pulled over because i saw ...rickie.. walking down the street! dont know if he lied to us or what but he said his trip got pushed back. man people here are so weird. i met my first person from hong kong this week. she spoke some english but we ordered her a BOM in her kantonese language. only problem is, she's a jehova's witness and already gets the watchtower in her language! i got a little sick this week and threw up 2 nights, i think it is cause i'm getting a little stressed when i look at a calendar.. but i'm ok and know i just need to calm down. ha. my big announcement is that, i cooked a whole pound of raw hamburger for my first time this week. wow. it was ssick. sure hope i dont have to do that often in my lifetime. yucky. michelle and julian.. well i love going over there every week they feed us and we have a lesson but this week we wanted to extend may 22 but it just didnt happen and now i feel so bad still, like the worst missionary ever and if i leave homestead and julian isnt baptized i'll be sad for the rest of my life.. so i pray that this week we will have success! yesterday for fast sunday.. i know many of you fast for me (and for that I THANK YOU!) but i wanted to do it too so i did a gratitude fast because i am so grateful for each of you. next week mon-wed i will be on exchanges. sister denson is coming down here and i am so happy! the coral reef north elders gave Aida a blessing this week and it helped her a lot.. she is for sure all set to get baptized on the 15 yay! saturday was a long day, we only got to see 3 out of our 18 plans and backups. BUT we had something great happen. there is this lady, Ionie Moore, who got baptized about 9 months ago. She's been once since she was confirmed. we go visit her weekly or every other and she always says she'll come but never does!! well we were there satrday, and we had her call a member to come pick her up for sunday. when she called sister samways and she said "i want to go to church'... i almost cried it was so happy for me, and how great when she walked in (late and sat front center front row) on sunday, i was in the back and so happy. it sure is nice when i get to see results from all the work i'm doing here. i look forward to talking to you all on next sunday and hope you have a really good week. xoxoxoxoxoxo
sister call

Today's Weather in Homestead

With the Letteriello's

Day of Service 2010

Between Projects 2 & 3 at Day of Service

People were Shopping for Trash

My Nice Tanline

After a Long Ride

How's Everyone

hey fam how's everyone? i got so many nice lovely emails today- A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO WROTE! i was needing some love. you guys rock. my random business: i think there are some U of U orientations i need to be signed up for, can you check out the website for me? also i may make a charge on my visa today, we are going shopping and i need to buy a jacket for church. did the old one from publix get cleared after that return? there is this hurricane outside and you'll never believe how much water is flooding this town.. everyone's been talking about hurricane andrew again and its a little scary! after grocery shopping i went to get the car while sis crane waited that i had to walk in water so deep that it was touching the bottom of my skirt and almost up to my knees. in a parking lot. wow. well rickie left to NY early so we passed his info and i know the missionaries will get to teach him up there! we got the address to the mission office up there and sent the teaching record so missionaries can pick up right where we left off. our church is so cool! one day this week we went out finding, and rode from our southern boarder (SW 248) up to our northern boarder (SW 152) it was so long but great and i love biking... maybe even more than i love running.. but its a close tie. okay i keep thinking about this although you'll think its sick but the other day at this part memebers house their little girl rachel who is 3 was laughing soo hard that she threw up but the dad (who is the Non mem) caught it in his hands EW gross. but kind of funny. i wish i had more time to tell you about a young man named joshua we met, who believes that he goes into heaven daily and then wanted to pray with us on the side of US1. we held hands and as he prayed he asked God to send down fire angels upon us, and then he proceeded to tell us we would start to feel our hands burning and then our head to our toes. well i think sister crane is still mad at me for playing along and telling him one of my hands was starting to burn.. and that i'd never felt anything like it before.. but then i couldn't control myself any more and started laughing it was the weirdest thing of my life. something happened i've been trying to make happen for months. the zayas family (omar, michelle, julian, and aalieah) well they live 2 blocks from bishop. but Bishop Quiros' family is always sooooo busy so they'll never do an FHE with us. but we made it happen, Quiros invited them over for dinner and it was great and we left a litle later than we should've cause they wouldn't stop talking but then later found out bishop kept them there til midnight, ya bishop is quite the talker.. and he's cuban. anyways. that was great! so omar and julian came to church yetserday, michelle is still being stubborn but tomorrow night we are ging to extend the date of may 22 to their fam and hope that omar will be worthy to baptize them! we are going to lunch after this with a guy who works on our bikes.. he is 50 but acts like he's 20.. and that should be fun. he said he'll get baptized if we tell him too. i wish it was that easy, haha. saturday was the annual day of service. it was AWESOME but we were exhausted cause we somehow got stuck there from 7:30-5:30 and worked soo much. sis crane and i did 3 projects. first with our ward, picked up trash along a busy road. second helped with this house picking up extra stuff and putting it in these bags for it to get taken away. you'll never believe how much STUFF they had. third we helped build a garden. got some sun that day. i met a cool latin Pedro and am excited for missionaries up north to teach him. we met so many cool people that day! ok so pray for aida, julian, michelle, and kedesha. kedesha came to church yest w her 10 yr old daughter (she is 28) and her little bro. it was so nice to have 3 investigators there! (julian, kedesha and her daughter kimani) well i love you all and hope you have a great week! xoxoxoxoxo
hermana call

Coral Reef District

Hollaa

hola mi familia...como estan.. estoy bien! i am going to make this email more focused on miracles and spirtual stuff. but first i want to say that i saw a possum the other day, it walked in front of me on my run and i thought it was an ugly cat at first. apparently there are possums everywhere down here. we were asked to study ether 1-3 for a district training last week (elder wilcox is our district leader. he rocks.) and i decided that more than anything now i want to be like the Bro of J and see the Savior. I've got a ways to go before I have that much faith.. but I'm gonna try! also i was able to make my own Title of Liberty this week, and pondered on what is most important to me and what I stand for, why I'm here, etc.. it was super cool! Ida (who i cant remember if i told you is a member referral from miami 4, oh and her name is really spelled Aida) came to church sunday and broght her 2 grandsons, ages 7 and 9. She has custody of the 7 yr old. It was like geez finally someone came and it was so great we got to set Aida with a baptismal date of May 15!!! We have had some excellent relief society fellowship with her, so it was great when she came to church she already knew people! in case i didnt tell you yet, i am staying in homestead yet another transfer. weird. but its ok because members and i have really bonded and they know all my favorite things and they always make me things that they know are my favorite now! and i love it! Rhshonda has been hard to contact and may be ignoring us sometimes, the only time we saw her was when we stopped by without calling first. lessons go really well when we are there but then she never comes to church. not sure what will happen with her. jordan collie has kind of been a bum lately and hasn't been to church since he was confirmed.. which makes me so sad.. but at least some thing good is happening. one time when i was there with sister eland his friend jordan nunez was there. and the elders have been teaching jordan nunez and he's been to church twice and will be baptized in may. so thats cool! hopefully the jordan's will help each other out! which reminds me. the homstead south elders have baptisms every week in may. they have 9 people set with dates! but now elder cook (who has been here since begin of nov) is getting transferred and i am kind of nervous to have him leave cause he's rocked this area. we have been teaching members about alma 32 and having a particle of faith- how much faith do you have?? i got to watch the DVD "On the Lord's Errand" this week for the first time. I heard parts of it from when I worked at Des Book and it was on but never saw it.. i absolutely totally looove it and have a new life goal (besides doing an IronMan) i want to shake the prophet's hand. anyone that can help me with that, I'd appriciate it. i am totally in love with americanized latins.. and want to help baptize an english latin family. i just need to find them first. i have been getting eaten up lately and for a few days thought i had the chicken pox cause i hardly ever see anything bite me. but sis welch has been taking care of me and i got this ointment and i'm doing better! ok i had so many awkward moments last week (ok sorry i'm failing so far at the whole staying spiritual part of the email) but it is soo awkward when men try to give besitos (especially in front of members) like they are coming at you and i just stare and move backwards uhh then tell them no and its so awekward also there are just some people i know i should talk to but because of situations i'm in or whatever, it is so awkward and i just have to hurry and approach them and not worry about whats going to come out of my mouth.. worrying takes too much time and i could lose the opportunity.. so i just do it and its scary but oh well! it always works out just fine :) the only words i have to discrible those situations is that i love them and i hate them at the very same time. an investigator ricky asked us if he could get baptized! so let me tell you about him real quick. but first please pray for rhshonda, julian, michelle, aida, bernard, kedesha, mark, and ricky. ok so we met ricky last week when we were riding bikes. we got to teach him twice, and he understood the need to be baptized again. he told us he'd get a ride to church, but we couldn't contact him so stopped by sun morning on our way down to meetings. he told us he couldn't go to cuhrch, but was so impressed about what we'd taught him about the 3 kingdoms (nobody knows there is more than just heaven and hell) and he said he knew it was true and wants to get baptized when we comes to church the next sunday (he had someting else inportant going on that day). we told him he has to come to church twice and we have to teach him commandemnts, for ex the WOW. he told us he smokes. (so pray that he'll stop!!!!) well ricky is moving to new york on may 3 so we want him to get baptized evening of may 2, or else he can do it when he meets missionaries in NY. we are meeting with him tonight! when we report on investigators in our meetings we are supposed to tell bishop the investigators first and last name (he is obessed with us knowing the last name) and well we dont know ricky's ! kedesha is going to get baptized in may, but she is praying about which date Heavenly Father wants her to get baptized. Hopefully she chooses the first satuday and not the last! yesterday we spent 3 hours tracting and only met 1 potential 20 yr old girl, but she's cool her name is apprilli and we are meeting with her saturday. 3 hrs straight of knocking doors is a long time! but we finished the whole neighborhood!! on sunday the man who gave the opening prayer in sacramnet meeting prayed for the missionaries and he also prayed for our families, and that made me a little teary eyed! i am not used to hearing other people pray for YOU but he did.. i know that as the promise in D&C says... "your family shall live"
hope you are all doing well and know how much i love you and appriciate you!!
hermana call

A New Hairstyle

Hermanas Call and Brown

Bullet Hole

It's Rainy Here

hey everyone, hope yall are having a good week, its rainy here and i wish we would've waited to wash the car.. we should make that a p-day afternoon chore i've decided. well i got to talk on the phone to president hale this week (our PPIs were over the phone. weird.) and he told me a couple things. he said those coming to FL will get a special dinner with me and the Hale's in the mission home that night.. so look forward to that, sister hale's cooking is delicish. he also said he'd been in key west and thought of me when he was there (i used to always tell him i wanted to serve in key west) and he said he'll be looking for a new place for the missionaries in case they put sisters there (they used to have sisters there like 10 years ago) and he said it may or may not happen while i am here. well either way that's cool but i told him its ok because i still get to go there when i am a missionary! and thats a dream come true! he said i am going to do my temple trip on june 2 with 3 departing elders, because thats too much hassle for me to go up alone in july. so i want to take a family name when i go in june so if someone could send me one i'd like that a lot! i liked seeing elder wickman in the ensign this month, too bad i'm not going to read his articles cause i dont want to think about marriage right now!! i had to drop reggie..over text.. beacuse he wouldn't ever answer his phone, only text, soo dumb i felt like i was in high school breaking up with my boyfriend or something. i had my 1 year in FL mark so i'm officially a FL resident now! right? we got chased by dogs this week, 2 days in a row while riding bike. the first one i got away from but the second one was fast so i peddled but he caught up so i put my feet up as high as i could and eventually he lost interest and left. this man told me that "i am a hardcore athiest. but if i would join a religion, i'd be mormon." but he wouldn't take the card. i'm loving homestead a lot and some of my best friends and close associates are here.. please pray for rhshonda (we have to push her bap date back, she didnt come to church! lame.) julian, michelle, Ida, maggie, bernard, and kedesha. we've met some hatian peopel lately and i sure wish i could've learned a little more creole when i was in boynton with the creole missionaries. i want to talk to everyone. i love the people, i love this gospel, and i love you all... sorry its a little shorter this week. take care
love, sister call

A Happy Meal

hi cuties how's everything? prayer list:bernard, juan, rhshonda, julian, michelle, marcial, kedesha, antonio, ida, maggie, and david. thanks! this is going to be random cuase i gotta type quick! a recent convert who got baptized a year ago still calls it the book of morons.. please make an appointment for my check up in july with dr. jay liddell, have it be with him and not the hygenist please! and also one for the ortho. the hales oldest daughter got engaged on thurs night, and is getting married in utah but president cant even go! sad! then their son tanner got his mission call to el salvador the next day and they are both flying out of florida next month! he goes in the mtc a month after getting his call.. they have lots going on. i guess they should be on the prayer list too! ok ok i had a cool revelation and i will be going to the U this fall, i know there are some orientations i'll need to register for so will you keep an eye on that also? and i need some scholarships! i'll figure that out later though..we met a really cool lady named anna from belize this week she is 81.. and we also taught an 80 year old antonio who used to be a pastor ( but he went to priesthood with our bishop and came to yesterday morning too!) but like NO ONE comes to the church, like the missionaries and 10 other people max. weird. read in my email to Pres about my biggest accomplishment this week! something nice that we did was when we were riding our bikes down US-1 and there was a tree in the middle of the road must've fallen out of a truck, cars were swirving and almost 10 accidents. so we decided to play superman and save lives.. so when no traffic came we ran and each grabbed the truck of it and dragged it to the sidewalk. little did we know like 10 people were watching and like this guy comes over to us and is like "are you the latter-day saints?" man it was great. i loved the talks on service and that people know members of our church because of service! i got a dumb april fools joke by elders wilcox and wright when they told us that cuba had a fall in the government and us leaders were taking over... of course we beleived it and got so happy.. rude. at this complex the other day i saw this cop running up stairs carrying a gun that was almost as big as me, but its ok they left a second later. this lady the other day like tried to quarrel with me and i just bore my testimony and tried to leave but she was like yelling at me and finally threw the pass along card back at me and told me i needed it more than she did! some people are so mean! we saw her later but crossed the street... we taught this nice homeless man richard and he said a really really long prayer at the end where he prayed for everyone, including mine and sister crane's future husbands. i told this black guy bernard we are teaching that he forgot to cut the tag off his shirt! it was sticking out! he told me "it was part of it" and quickly changed the subject. addys (my little sister) glared at me and when he stepped out of the room she said never do that again. i learned that people do that to show the brand and the price they paid for their outfit... some peopel are wearing clothes inside out just so others can see the tag and brand.. ohhh broothherr.. then i asked rhshonda if her hair was real and again addys told me later never ask a black girl that cause black girls always have fake hair and so if they have long hair, its fake cause their hair dont grow fast. wow. the things i never knew growing up in utah. well rhshonda accepted a baptism date of april 24 yay!! so great! she understands why she needs to be baptized again. and for that i just want to squeeze her. i got 2 million new bug bites and the welch's came so they sprayed my bed for bugs and spiders cause they arent mosquito bites and are all over my body. like chicken pox! this cute old man neighbor we have named hector, he's like 80 and latin, well a few days ago he came up and was talkign to me and was about to leave and she "te quiero" and then he gave me a besito (EW I HATE WHEN GUYS DO THAT AND I'M IN A SITUATION WHERE I CANT STOP THEM) and then he looked at me and said "no, te amo" it was sooooo gross i cant tell you how bad i almost threw up and wow it was sick. i've been told this week that i am a happy meal.. because i'm always a surprise and you never know what you are going to get from me.. i guess thats a compliment? there is a 4 year old who knows how to do the dance "the jerk" and the woo-tang.. he's sooo cute.. and i hope that owen will learn that dance by the next time i see him. i loved elder ballard's talk and so many others, confernece was so good and i cant beleive how funny some of them were. i loved my easter basket, thank you thank you!!!!!! it was probably my 1st time stayign awake all 4 general conferences, i think i got one up on dad.. we had dinner at the antonacci's, our ward mission leader. they made yummy lasange.. what was very surprising to me was that like 1 family had the easter bunny come here, if kids were too little the parents didnt go it. and even for families who had older kids, they said it was too expensive, and nobody dyed eggs cause they are too expensive. our family is so blessed! i'm lucky to have had my 2 easters and 2 general conferences in florida. i pray for you all every single day and love you soooo much! tenga un buen semana
xoxoxo
sister call

A Puppy at the Park

My Friends at the ALF House

No Mucho Tiempo

guys! hi! i have so much to say but no mucho tiempo so here goes. i got permish and checked out a few college websites. most have application deadlines for after i get home EXCEPT the u of u. that is april 1. so will someone please take the time to register me, i know it costs $45 and i will reimburse whoever pays that. this way i still have the option of going to the U if thats what is right.. (although it is quite costly. i need a scholarship!) but as long as i still have the possibility of going there, i will worry about school stuff LATER cause i've got other stuff to worry about now like lives to save!!!!!! wait does anyone have any other ideas for my acne, it is really grossing me out and i dont know what to do! julian's bapt lesson was good, he understood it and they are gone this week (it is spring break here all week) but when he gets back we are going to try setting him with a date. the little sister aleah, she thinks my name is "sister phone" and calls me that. seriously. haha. we had a super neat day on wednesday when we got 3 new investigators, ida maggie and rhshanda. ida was in the hosptial last week and her room buddy was a member from miami 4th. so the missionaies in that ward and the member taught ida alot! ida knows what it feels like when the spirit is present and wants that all the time. she missed church cause of pain but hopefully next week! maggie is actually engaged to a member, she's never met him. he's in the military and serving in pakastan. they met online and are getting married when he comes back in may. he is a High Priest and a really good man, because he's taught her so much and truely believes it. She was realllly excited for us to come over and it was neat for her to share her testimony of what she already knows. but she also mentioned she's not doing this for him, so that's a good sign! rhshonda was a media she wanted us to bring a finding faith in christ dvd and when we showed up she's like.. i already read that part in the BOM you asked me to and she shows me this phamplet that has mine and sister olson's name on it.. but i've never met the girl so i think sister olson taught her with an exchange. but she is 16 and has the light of Christ so bright.. and wants to know the truth. so excited to teach her! the only invest we had at church was a boy who went to Snapper Creek, his name is Juan he's 22 and he loooves to talk. we met this lady named erica who has 5 kids (and is prego) we gave her a Proclaimation and when we followed up she had lots of questions about the Plan of Sal.. it was neat to teach her that but she wasnt so interested in us coming back to teach but the kids loved us and want us to come dye easter eggs this week. we had a really successful fun relief society activity on thurs and some less actives we've worked with came and that was really good! i have been in this ward for a long time and i'm kind of starting to feel like a celeb... sometimes i dont like that very much.. its been really humid lately and people are saying there is a tornado warning here right now but since it's the end of the month we have to ride bikes cause we're out of miles! a guy that works at the bike store frankie he just turned 50 but he's single and loves us.. he always does work on our bikes for free.. after this we're meeting him and he's getting us lunch hahah some people just dont know what they are getting themselves into when they want to hang out with us! oh man we also met this guy bernard he is like 28 and has a FULL SET of GOLD TEETH... his grill is pure gold.. every tooth! i dont know if you can believe it til you see it! but he's super cool and at his complex i saw things i'd need seen before, like people in small circles throwing dice and money then 4 cop cars coming in a doing pat downs on people.. haha dont freak out! cause i didnt! this is my area and the Lord is protecting me! on sat i did a good trick to sister crane.. it was her b-day sunday so i set up an exchange for me and her. but her and her exchange went and taught the Gospel while me and Addys went to the store and got her b-day stuff hahah it was really hard to do surprises when i have to be with her 24/7! i found out about what i'm getting bit by. a bug called "no-see-ums" that is seriously what they're called. but i got spray with lots of deet in it and i'm okay now! last night at the ALF house the owners told us we cant ever come by anymore and i felt like i was stabbed.. it hurts so bad when people say that.. but one day they'll understand! i just have to remmeber the example of Christ when He was on the cross and said "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do"... same sad situation here. anyway, all my girls are gone this week cause its girls camp. they do it over spring break cause its too hot in the summer. will you continue to join with me in praying for julian, michelle, ida, maggie, isabell, rhshonda, alfredo, juan, bernard, marcial, and david bauer? thank you and i love you and i miss you and have a good week and a good confernce and a happy easter!!!!!!
con amor, hermana call

St. Patrick's Day with Sisters Hale and Crane

Wishing Sister Denson a Happy Birthday!

Talking to Alex

2nd Attemp - I figured it out!