Hola Family and Friends!
WOW. What a crazy past few days it has been. I can't even believe that I am here right now in the mission field! It is so wonderful and I don't know if I have fully comprehended the fact that I am not at the MTC anymore haha :)I flew on an airplane for the first time on Saturday and boy was I scared. I flew from Provo to Phoenix and from Phoenix to Spokane. I thought I was going to be going alone but it just so happened that there was an elder that was going with me and so that was a tender mercy. Saturday morning I asked Heavenly Father to please help me have angels with me that day because I has no idea what I was doing and I was just so scared because the whole airport process was completely new to me. Heavenly Father answered my prayer and there really were many angels with me that day. One was a lady who sat by me on the plane. She is actually from Moses Lake Washington and I was able to sit by here on both plane rides. She helped me feel good and not so nervous and she was so sweet. I was so thankful for her. I know that Heavenly Father is aware of us and our needs and I am so thankful that He answered my prayer! The plane ride was good. It felt a little weird but it was fun still :) When Elder Heward and I got to the Spokane airport there were two Elders waiting for us.
A sweet lady, Tracy Compton, saw me at the SLC airport and took my picture to email to my mom.
Of course mom was so happy to receive it!
I arrived safe and sound at the Spokane airport on May 18, 2013
They are the AP's in the area and were very nice and welcoming. They greeted us and helped us with our luggage and then we waited a few minutes for Brother and Sister Killian to arrive. They took the elder and I to our different destinations. Elder Heward I think was going to Moses Lake and I was to be taken to Warden :) The drive was a few hours I think. We stopped at Subway on the way and the Killian's got us dinner. It was very kind of them to do that. They were great company. They are an old couple and they have 12 kids!! Isn't that neat! Anyway, we had a good time with them :) They dropped me off at a chapel where I met my TWO new companions :) :) So yes, I am in a trio :) And I am loving it. My companions are Hermana Earl and Hermana Smith. They are my trainers of course and have been nothing but wonderful to me. Hna. Earl is from St. George but she went to Pine View so I don't know her. She said she knows Nathanial though!! And Hna. Smith is from Phoenix Arizona. They are extremely hard workers and are perfectly obedient and I love it so much. I hope all of my companions are like these two. Hermana Earl always has a smile on her face and is soooo happy all of the time :) Hna. Smith works so hard and is very diligent in the Lord's work. They both speak such great spanish and so I have a hard time not comparing myself but I know it will come! They have also been out for 7 months so they have a few months on me ha ;)
Once they picked me up we drove to Warden and they showed me around the house a little bit. I didn't get to unpack because they wanted to go "fear busting." That is where you talk to everyone that you see and share a message with them. I had no idea how my first day would be but I was actually very excited to be able to start working right away. I was super tired and worn out because I had only got three hours of sleep the night before but I was happy to get working and I was happy to see that my trainers didn't slack off even with a new missionary :) I talked to a few people but they didn't want to listen so they just walked off when I started talking. I wanted to cry. But I think I need to get used to that. We had an appointment that night with a named Marcelino. He is one of our investigators and had been visited a few times before by my comps. The experience we had with him on Saturday night was so incredible. I couldn't believe I was actually with a real investigator. It was just so amazing. He is Hispanic and so it was hard for me to teach him but I was able to say the opening prayer and say a few other things in spanish throughout the lesson. At the MTC, I could understand my teachers pretty well when they spoke spanish, but as soon as Marcelino started speaking, I was kinda lost haha. But I actually understood more than I though as the lesson went on. Surely it was the Lord helping me understand because the spirit that was there was so strong. So this is Marcelino's story: He is in his 40s and lived in California with his family but then moved to Warden to earn money for them. He is a migrant worker and lives in a house with other Migrant workers. When he got here, a women offered him cigarettes and drugs and he tried them. He wants to be a better man and he wants to quit drugs and smoking. The people he lives with do not like us coming to teach him. They are not threatening or anything but they just don't want us to be there really. Marcelino wanted to talk with the missionaries because He wants to be good with God again. We taught him the word of wisdom on Saturday. He mostly just talked to us about his life and told us that he wanted to change and that he wants to be better for his son. He was crying a lot and would just start praying to Heavenly Father right in the middle of the lesson. We wouldn't know he was praying until a few seconds after he started because he didn't say Dear Heavenly Father or anything. The only reason we knew he was praying was because he had his arms folded and he was closing his eyes and crying. I can't describe how beautiful that experience was. I had only been in the field for a few hours and already I wanted to be a missionary forever. This experience was so incredible and so real and so powerful and I was so blessed to able to experience this my FIRST day out. But it gets better. After I committed Marcelino to live the word of wisdom, he said he wanted to and he was just crying and saying things in spanish that I couldn't understand but I sure did feel the spirit when he was speaking. He was so sincere and so genuine. I couldn't believe I was actually involved in this. I was seeing someone change right there because of Jesus Christ. Oh my goodness I just wish I could explain better how I feel but it is so hard so explain something so sacred and real! Well he started to pull something out of his pocket and it was one of those glass tube things that you put drugs in and smoke them. I didn't even know what it was when he pulled it out, my comps had to tell me. He was sobbing and then said (in spanish of course) "I am going to throw this away right now. I want to quite right now." He got up from the table and went out the front door. Then he walked over to the green garbage and threw it away. At that point I was sobbing because I could literally feel the power of the Atonement in that moment. It was incredible. I told Marcelino in my broken spanish that through him and his desire, I could feel God's love and I could feel the power of Jesus Christ's Atonement. I told him that I was sorry my spanish wasn't very good. And then he told me "That is not important. I know that you are all messengers of God and I can feel it." I was touched by this and I just was in awe at what had just taken place. Heavenly Father was there! It was such an amazing experience. My companions knew exactly what to teach him and they followed the spirit. I hope I will be able to do the same soon.
My comps are waiting for me to get off even though I have more to say as usual. I know I only told one story and that it was really long but I just didn't want to leave anything out! I am doing well and I am so happy and Heavenly Father's work is progressing here in Warden. I am so blessed. Thank you everyone for your prayers and words of comfort. I love you all so much!
My comps: Hermana Smith and Hermana Earl
Mission Home Address
820 South Pines Road
Suite 101 Spokane Valley Washington
99206.
Home Address
6794 Road S. SE
Warden Washington
98857
Come July 1st, our mission home address will change to the Kennewick Washington Mission, just FYI :) Also, next week our p day will be on Tuesday not Monday.
And mom, I wasn't able to read you entire email so I just printed it off and I will write you a letter if I missed some of your questions. So if I didn't respond to anything that is why. Sorry! :(
Pres. & Sis. Mullen
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