The temple and Santa!

This week was great! We had a lot going on so it seems like we didn't do as much missionary work as we would have wanted, but you know what we did a lot with the little time that we had! Tuesday we had zone conference and we learned a lot. It is nice to have reminders of who you are and what you can become. President and Sister Ashton did a training on being a consecrated missionary. Hermana Shill and I talked about it for days saying that was exactly what we needed to hear. We have been doing a lot, but they helped us realize there is always more we need to sacrifice. We also had a training on weekly and nightly planning which I still hate, but it was useful. The AP's had us take some time to go and practice. We focused on Larry who has been giving us a hard time. One of the senior missionaries came in to watch and she gave us some of the best feedback and ideas on how to help him. It is great to have a fresh look on things when someone else helps you out. We had to opportunity to go back to Friendswood for a baptism this week as well. I was surprised to find out Shevyn moved her baptismal date up. It was a wonderful service and Shevyn bore her testimony and it was amazing to see how much she learned and really knew was true in just a matter of weeks. All of the missionaries that taught her came up so that was fun to see everyone again. We also went to the eye doctor that day and I was lucky enough to get my eyes dilated. We thought the effects would wear off after a few hours, but man I wore my sunglasses everywhere! When we took pictures at the baptism I wanted to cry because it was so bright. Hermana Shill thought it was funny because I was hiding under everything to keep the light out. The next day we went to the temple and had our branch Christmas party. It was amazing to go to the temple with Trisha, one of my recent converts. She was going for her first endowment session and the spirit in the temple that day was so strong. I was so thankful for the many answers we got in the temple that day. We ran into a lot of members we knew from Clearlake, but we didn't find some other recent converts that were doing baptisms at the same time. The temple was just full of us that day! After we got back we wanted to get some proselyting in before the party, but it was a rough few hours. No one wanted to talk to us and were actually pretty rude, but we took it with a grain of salt and knew it wasn't their time yet. The branch party was really fun. The Sampert's invited some neighbors and they were hilarious! We talked to them the whole night. So many of the members invited their friends. All the missionaries split from their companions so we could talk to everyone. Thankfully the gym is small so we could always see each other. We didn't have lots of time to be "missionaries" this week, but we did see lots of miracles. The members are reaching out so much right now! They have not only given us referrals to their friends, but invited them over so we could meet them. The branch is on fire right now! It is a great time to be in Sunnyside. I love you all and I hope you are feeling the Christmas Spirit and sharing it with those around you! ​Hermana Sanchez, Me, Sister Pace, Shevyn, Brother Chidester Hermana Shill and I with Santa!​ ​Herman Shill taking sneak sneak pictures of me suffering with dilated eyes!