Josh Got Baptized!!!

Best weekend hands down!!!
 
 Josh's whole story is a miracle. The Lords hand was in the entire
 process.mon Saturday he got baptized and I haven't attended a baptism
 with a spirit that strong before. I could tell he was nervous and
 pretty worried right before the baptism but he kept going. There was
 help supporting him through this, there is no doubt. His parents
 "ironically" felt the need to drive up here from Southern California
 to spend the weekend with him. They attended the baptism and they
 really enjoyed it. They also attended sacrament to see Josh get
 confirmed. He gave all the men a huge bear hug after the confirmation
 in appreciation. My thoughts are all over the place, it was so much to
 take in. The spirit confirmed to all of us the ordinance that was
 taking place was true. His parents notice a huge change in his
 countenance and I can see them joining in the future as well. They are
 such sweet people! Sorry mom, I am horrible at taking pictures so I
 didn't get a picture with them :( lame right? I need to work on that.
 
 We have been teaching like crazy! We have been really busy lately
 which is the goal so that's awesome. Nothing really new has happened
 this week besides the baptism. We had a few miracles meeting some
 people and we are going to start teaching them this week. They are so
 excited to come closer to Christ.
 
 It's hilarious because this weekend really was amazing but I have so
 little to say haha it is because it was so much to take in, I have no
 idea how to put it simply in words. But trust me, it was great :)
 Love y'all!
 Sister Sierra Birch :)

JOSH IS GETTING BAPTIZED !!! :)

This week was wonderful!! :) Let me start off with a miracle:

On Monday we had a fun P-day. One of my zone leaders and another
sister knows all the words to "The Bells of Notre Dame" from the
Hunchback of Notre Dame. They sang the entire thing and I was bawling
laughing! That wasn't the miracle haha that night we met with Josh at
an AWESOME members home. We didn't plan a lesson plan or anything and
the discussion ended up being centered on baptism. Between the couple
and Sister Herpich and I we were all sharing scriptures and testifying
of baptism and membership in the church. This amazing couple bore 2 of
truly the most beautiful testimonies I have heard before. Towards the
end of the lesson it was starting to wind down and out of nowhere he
says, "K, let's do it." We all look at him and say "what?" And he
explains, "The baptism lets do it. Something told me 5 minutes ago I
should do it so lets do it." The husband that was there and I were
crying. The room filled with the spirit. It was testified to us that
what he had just agreed to was truth and would bless him. Since that
night his mind has been clearer and he has felt a little weight lifted
off. We had another lesson with him which went great and he prayed for
the first time in front of us. Again the spirit flooded the room when
he spoke to Heavenly Father. He is moving to California in about a
month and I have no doubt he will bless lives of people there that he
meets and he will share the amazing message of the Atonement. He is
getting baptized this Saturday and he will have a huge turn out. The
ward loves him! The ward members are trying to convince him to not
move haha absolute miracle to been blessed with the opportunity to
teach him.

Another miracle is this sweet woman who was being taught by sisters in
Portland but she lives in our ward boundaries. She knows Christ is her
Savior and desires to be baptized very much! She is so very kind and
we are grateful to have met her as well :)

I guess I will go through the days again

Tuesday: we visited Geraldine who we love :) we visited quite a few
people. We went to the addiction recovery program with some people we
are teaching. I love that program!! It is the atonement 101. I highly
recommend all people to look into it. It not only changes behavior but
changes character. I see how the atonement can shape me more into the
person the father intended me to become.

Wednesday: we had a lot of visits which is awesome! We had a miracle
Wednesday night. We had a visit with an active family. The
grandparents showed up out of nowhere and they are converts and they
told their story of how they became members of the church. They told
us "Don't quit; pray." It was exactly what I needed to hear. I will
say that often because I know The Lord sets us up for success.

Thursday: one thing that was awesome on Thursday was when we stopped
by a part member families house. They are an older couple and the
husband is not a member. He is Sierra Birch in guy form :) we got
along SO well! We were laughing and talking about all sorts of things.
He wants us to come back ASAP and hopefully he will want to keep
learning about the church! Miracle :)

Friday: we just had weekly planning and visits :)

Saturday: we had an oober fun relief society party! You know Waffle
Love? Well a member knows how to make those Belgian waffles and so she
bought a ton of strawberries and Nutella and whipped cream. They were
delicious! And another member is a professional flower woman so she
makes corsages so she taught us how to make them to give us to our
father or whoever. Daddy, I did make you one but it would have wilted
and stunk by the time it got to you. But know I picked a red one for
Utah ;) I burnt my finger really good! It is deep and kind of cool
looking :) we had dinner at one of my favorite families of my life
house. I hope I have a marriage like this couple have: 100% centered
on the gospel and to supporting each other and their kids. They are
extremely happy and their kids love the gospel and their Savior.
That's living the dream :) we had an amazing lesson with a less active
member. She has had a 180 degree change in her countenance about the
church. She knows it is true and she bore a beautiful testimony of the
atonement. We love her!!

Sunday: church was great as always! We had lessons during the
afternoon and those all went very well. We had dinner with another
family who is an amazing couple!! Man, this ward is full of prime
examples of gospel centered families. I can't imagine having anything
else. I got to talk with Brooke :) I love Brooke haha

The biggest thing I learned this week is the importance and value of a
testimony. It is so vital that we have a firm testimony and trust in our prophet
and his apostles. They are ordained of God and are the mouthpiece for
The Lord. If we are in question of what they are sharing with us, we
need to be the ones to study and pray to come to an understanding of
why those things are instituted. The church  is lead by Christ himself. I know this is
true and I will never change that because it has been confirmed to me
by the Holy Spirit. I am here as a missionary to invite others to feel
this as well. So I invite everyone who is reading this to do the same.

I love you all!! I hope everyone is enjoying their June :)

Love always,
Sister Sierra Birch

10 Months. Cray Cray :)

Heya!! 

 Crazy I have been out for 10 months now. Time is starting to fly. I
have 5 transfers left and it is even crazier that at the end of this
transfer I will be out for a year! I am so grateful for my mission :)

So transfers are this week and Sister Herpich and I are in the clear!
We are both staying and we get to celebrate our birthdays together! :)
we were both born on July 7th, but I am a 93 baby and she is 94. How
cool right?! :) we are living with a couple who is phenomenal! I love
them :) their home is beautiful. They eat really healthy. I am excited to learn from them. Things are just great:) 

 This week is a blur. It is llloooonnnngggg. Long long long. I will
split it up by days.

 Monday: P-day! We walked around town, bought some way cute skirts at
Goodwill, took Sister Herpich to Starbucks for her first time, and had
dinner with Jeff and Sheree. They are adorable! They bought pizza and
we got frozen custard for dessert. It was a lot of fun :) we had a few
member visits and we met with Josh. He is still doing awesome. Reading
like crazy and taking in everything. 

Tuesday: we had district meeting and those are always fun :) our
district is doing really well and we all get along great! We tried
contracting people for a good chunk of the day. We met with Rose who
is less active. We visit her twice a week and we are going to start
exercising with her. The poor woman is so sick, she said exercise
would help. So Sister Herpich and I will buy some weights today and be
her support group :) we met with members and had great discussions. We
attended the addiction recovery program (ARP) that the church provides
for free for all people to attend and over come addictions by learning
how to utilize the atonement. The meeting was powerful and very
beneficial for me. Even though I don't have any addictions to drugs or
alcohol or anything similar to that, there are places in my life I do
not put God first when I know I should. Everyone can always be better
and this is what that program teaches. It's wonderful :) 

Wednesday: we had visits all day :) at night I got to Skype Jade
Fielder. I love that guy! He is awesome :) I hadn't laughed that hard
in a long time!

 Thursday: we had visits all day again (which is awesome). We met with
a fella that night named John. He has come to church the past few
weeks and wanted to meet with us for the first time. He is planned to
be baptized on June 21st :) it is exciting! Very exciting, complete
miracle. Also, a companionship of sisters in Portland called us and
said one of their investigators who is getting baptized the first week
of July moved into our ward. She is a darling woman! Again, another
complete miracle :) We also met with Josh, again another great lesson!
We are meeting with him tonight with a family in the ward for F.H.E :) 

Friday: WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE!! :) I love the temple!!! I will go as
often as I possibly can when I get back home. I love the feeling and
the revelations receive when I am there. We rode with a member and her
daughter in another ward with our district leader and his companion.
We also went to Deseret Book and I bought "The Infinite Atonement" as
an early birthday gift. I have heard that book is amazing! We had a
ward party that night that was a BBQ and line dancing. It was a huge
success and it was a blast!! :) I have missed dancing I realized haha 

Saturday: We moved into our new home and we love it :) we got to go to
a meeting with about 2/3 of our mission to listen to Elder Car, a 70,
and Brother Ridd, the general young men's second councilor. It was
such a good meeting! The messages they shared were great :) and it was
great to see a lot of the missionaries I love! We are like a huge
family; I love it :) we had more appointments and I got to Skype
Brooke :) I love my family! I am grateful we get to talk about the
gospel to each other. She is an amazing woman.

 Sunday: Church was great as always! I love this ward. Our day was full
of appointments (a busy schedule is the best). We have a new
investigator named Gary. He is studying a ton and has some of the best
questions. I wouldn't be surprised if he got baptized this year :) we
had a baptism for 2 children in the ward and we were asked to share a
brief message about the Restoration during it.

 All In all, our week was so good! We grew and learned a ton! I love my
mission :)
I love you all! Sister Sierra Birch :)

Heya!

Hi everyone!

This week to start out was really sad week. A sister missionary in the
mission passed away on Tuesday. I am not sure if any of you saw the
posts on Facebook, but it has taken a big toll on our mission. I
personally did not know her well, but many of the sisters did because
they served with her so I am doing fine, but losing someone is never
easy. She passed away from a tooth infection. I cannot imagine the
stress and pain her family is feeling. When someone passes away we are
sad for those who they left behind,but we know that person is in a
better place. I hope her family is receiving as much comfort as they
possibly can. I also hope that President and Sister Taylor are
receiving comfort as well. They have done so much during this process.
They are an amazing couple of strength and faith.

As for the week, we had many miracles happen. Our investigator Josh is
doing amazing! He is still reading like crazy and coming to
everything. He is golden. Jeff, our recent convert, blessed the water
last week and blessed the bread this week. His thick Kentucky accent
sounds awesome over the speakers! Haha he is receiving his patriarchal
blessing in the next few weeks and he received his temple recommend
yesterday as well. Also, in her next month or so they are going to
ordain him to the office of Elder! :) it is amazing! He wants to read
through Preach My Gospel and I had an extra copy. I gave it to him and
he is so excited! We are having dinner and dessert with him and his
girlfriend Sister Sheree Tanner tonight :) There were a handful of
non-members in sacrament yesterday and one of them wanted a Book of
Mormon. This story is hilarious but kind of pathetic too haha Sister
Herpich and I for some reason didn't have any on us and we could not
find a single one in the church building. The corner stone of our
religion and we can't find it! But we ran into a sweet sister in the
ward who has teenage kids. We told her and she hurried and ran home,
grabbed one of her 12 year old daughters copies that's marked up with
notes and highlights, wrote a quick testimony of where the copy came
from in the front, and that's what we gave him. So much more memorable
and cool! :) 

hmmm... What else... Last week Sister Herpich and I got
stuck in a gated community and the doors wouldn't open and they were
too tall to climb over so we slid under instead, that was fun :) this
week our ward is having a BBQ and line dancing party so we are going
to dance and have a jolly good ol time! Another less active we have
been visiting has had a baptism by fire! She is loving the gospel and
she is having so many answers come to her! :)
I can't ever remember what I do during the week!! I need to keep a
journal or something.

I hope you all have a good week :)
Love me!