Erin's letters :)

Good morning Mom :) 
 
(Referring to a medicine refill that she needed this week --) Um, that medicine 
thing was so crazy! Heavenly Father set me up perfectly this week to get that 
medicine when I needed it! Interviews happened to be on the same day I ran    out so I could talk to Sister Eaton about it. And then she was able to figure 

things out with you before the store closed. Then when I had an insurance 

question I turned around to call her and she was standing right there! Checking out from Fred Meyer! What the eve heck? It was awesome! Then of course that lady at the counter was awesome and figured out a way to get the cost from like $260 to something like $15 dollars with out going through the insurance! She 

kept asking me to just call you and ask you things. And I was like "no can do". 

But she was cool and just did it all! So many blessings! 
 
That stake Easter thing y'all did sounds so cool! Wish I could have seen it and 
I'm so glad Addey liked it! Our "In Defense Of Christ" program was really good! 
The music was beautiful and they showed bible videos in the background that 
correlated with the songs the choir was singing. So beautiful! Also our 
investigator Danae came and she brought her kids! I was on my way to text herand remind her to come, but she texted me first to remind me to save her 

seats. So that made me quite happy. 
 
OK, we had our Relief Society dinner last week and it was super good and cute. A couple of men came to help out and then sat down to eat at my table and onestarted CRYING. Full on! About the musical CATS! And he went on forever and 

was SO LOUD! And the lady that was running the program was so quiet. She 

was up in front talking but literally no one could hear her cause this guy was 

super loud and sobbing. ...So that happened. Yours sounds adorable! I didn't 

know you are on a relief society committee? I thought you were teaching 

primary? With dad? Am I just confused? 
 
(Referring to a letter/questionnaire I wrote to her this week about her 
camera/lack of picture issues -- ) Can I just mention the highly passive - 

aggressive form letter I received about my camera use this week? I'm not 
sending it back because I love it now and want to keep it forever. BUT! I will 
work on sending you pictures but I forgot to bring el camera this week. 
 
The General Relief Society broadcast was super good! MAJOR focus on families! 
And President Eyring spoke on comforting those who stand in need of comfort. 
Quite excellent! So stoked for Easter and General Conference! 
 
I love you sOOO much:) 
 
Happy Easter! 
 
Love, Sister Orr 
 
 
Good MORNING Dad! 
 
1. How am I about to be 20? What the EVEN heck?  So crazy! Also I'm going to 
spend the whole time I'm twenty here in Washington. 
 
2. We found a new investigator this week! Yay! She is the wife of a less active 
man who looks like Bill Murray. I love them so much already! And I just want 
them to enjoy the blessings that come from building your foundation in Christ! 
She has no religious background but knows that praying makes things better! 

So excited to see them again! They are the Rice's. 

 
3. Do you know what a STEM machine is? It's used in physical therapy. It's like 
an electric thing where you stick little tabs on your body. WELL Sister 
Frischknecht got one for her birthday and we were playing with it last night and 
we put the tabs on my arm and it made my muscles contract more and more, 

the more we turned it up. But it hurt more and more too. It was really fun! 

Except at the end when Sister Frischknect went to turn it off and accidentally 

turned it all the way up! It hurt so bad! I almost died! But it was funny! And shefelt so bad! 
 
4. We went and visited a lady in the ward who is less acitive. She has been 
depressed lately so the bishop had us go see her  :( She was so sweet though 

and made us a whole cheesecake to take home! Don't worry though we shared 

it with EVERYBODY! 
 
5. I have allergies now days. What? I have never had allergies in my life! Good 
thing my mamma packed me some Zyrtec! 
 
6. Joan, my favorite 81 year old lady, let us share an Easter message with her! 
And pray with her! Yay! We are breaking down barriers! 
 
I'm not sure why I numbered this email. I guess my subconscious needed a 

change of pace or something. I hope you have a good week and have to drive a lot less! Have a fun Easter! Also where is the egg war going to be now? And with who? Throw a good one for me! And remember to show some holiday mercy 

and crack the eggs on your knee before you throw them! 
 
Love, Sister Orr 
 
 

Welcome Spring! Serving, Loving, and Teaching in the Lord's (blackberry) vineyard

I pulled this pic off of facebook.  A ward member snapped it and sent it to Jared.  I think she looks TERRIFIC!!!  Love that smile!!! :)

Hey Mom!

Good morning! Isn't my lake pretty? (referring to the picture she sent last week) I'm a little spoiled. There was an otter on the dock again! And it was eating a fish. so cool! 

We got to do more service this week! One investigator we have has a HUGE property and most of it is completely covered with very tall and thick and thorny blackberry bushes. It looks like Maleficent lives here, for real.  Blackberries are a weed here and they grow fast and everywhere, so we cleared out part of her yard while we had a gospel discussion/ lesson.  We found out that even though she has been investigating for YEARS, she has a very fundamental misunderstanding of who Heavenly Father is.  But she had always thought missionaries would be offended if she told what she thought, which, nope, we want to know what you believe.  But I'm just glad she finally felt comfortable enough to tell us where her problems with our beliefs are so now we can at least address them!

We had exchanges this week. I stayed in Lake Sawyer and Sister Frischknecht went to Renton with Sister Halford.  Sister Hill came with me and it was super fun!  We did service at baseball fields in the rain and then visited a bunch of member who are taking part in an Easter production that the stake is putting on called "In Defense of Christ".  I had never heard of it but it is based on the fact that Christ never had a trial and there are "witnesses" who give their testimony in defense of Christ.  I think it will be really good and powerful and a perfect way to prepare for Easter.  So we are inviting all the participants to invite non-member friends.  Jonathan Eaton, our mission president's son, is playing the clarinet so during the exchange we had to go over their house and invite their family to be missionaries. Haha.  When I told Sister Hill that's what we were doing she was so nervous, but it ended up being really good!

And good news!  When we switched back companions, Sister Halford and Frischknecht surprised me with tacos and horchata from Aguacateros! My favorite thing ever!

So I would call this a quality week!

Oh, and also on Thursday we were going over to visit another lady participating in the "In Defense of Christ" production and she had found out that it was Sister Frischknecht's birthday, so when we walked in there was a whole tea party with cupcakes and strawberries set up and her little twin daughters were dressed up like princesses!  It was adorable.

Welp. That's my week! More in dad's letter! I LOVE YOU!

Sister Orr



Hello dad!

I liked what you said about the sacrament. My Sister Training Leader, while we were on exchanges this week, told me that a way to stay focused and consecrated during sacrament meeting instead of missing the weekly opportunity to come closer to Christ, is by writing everything down that goes through your head, whether it be about Jesus or not.  It's kind of a scary thing to do, but if you do it honestly it really helps you get in the right mindset for taking the sacrament.

So Aurora, the girl I told you about last week, stood us up for her lesson, which stinks. But what stinks worse it that we have to go back to her crazy drug house again and hope we don't get yelled off the porch! haha Pray for us!

We did get the Rojas to come to church this week. Mostly because Eric loves primary now!  And also a less active girl named Katelyn Tanner.  She hasn't been to church in a few years but she agreed to come and sit with us. And she and Sister Rojas got along Really well!

Also Andrew, the guy that didn't want to meet with us, cause he was processing things, decided he wants to meet with us again! Yay! So we are working out a time to see him this week! What what! So excited!

Mom had asked about David Orange. He got back from Disneyland this week and we were able to see him last night but they were having some kind of family something so we could only leave him with a short message. We brought an adorable old man with us and had told him that we planned on teaching about the Book of Mormon, so when David called on him to say the opening prayer, knowing we only had 2 minutes to teach, he taught the whole lesson in the prayer. SUCH A PRO! It was awesome! And then later when we mentioned that he had done that he said " I've been a missionary before". I love old people!

Have the best week ever!

Love!!!, Sister Orr

It's a St. Patrick's Eve Miracle!! Erin sent a picture!! :)

It's a scenery pic, but I'll take it!!

This is Lake Sawyer.  

Erin and her companion live 10 feet from the shore in a lake cottage 

in a ward member's backyard.

Hi Laurel :)  (she's teasing me because Aubri has started trying to call me Laurel)

Holy guac. Your week sounds so fun! Those pictures are so dang cute! Kenz sent me a bunch! They make me so happy! I love M5! 

Also I'm glad the kids (that I sub for) like you! You have been saying forever that you would love to sub but would yell at the kids so much that none of them would like you! FEAR BUSTED!

Guess what I ate this week. A breakfast burrito! 2 in fact! This should be a testimony strengthener for everyone - considering they were purly made of eggs, bell peppers, and tortillas. (she hates all 3) And none of these things were a possibility before the mish. God truely does love his children.

I met an 81 year old lady this week named Joan who is the actual cutest person I have ever met. Me and Sister Frischknecht weeded her garden and planted flowers for her and such. She is so funny and sarcastic and active. She loves gardening and asked us for our favorite foods because she wants to plant things for us. So we chose zucchini and jalepenos. Also she FORCED us to take home like 10 bottle openers that she knitted, cookies, cupcakes, candy, herbal tea (which half of it wasn't even herbal, JOAN!!) and pots full of soil so we could plant our own things. I love her and really want to go back but I'm so scared she is going to give us more! She said that the elders before have told her that she is going to be baptized and she took it as a challenge to not! So hopefully as sisters we can bring a different dynamic and help her feel less threatened by the church:)

Sister Frischknecht's birthday is on Thursday so after emails we are meeting some ward friends and an investigator for sushi! What what! I'm so excited!

I LOVE YOU!!  Sister Orr


Hey Papanwa (I watched the testaments last week),

I think bread instead of silverware is an inspired idea! Those Indians know whats up. You can never get enough bread! I am always down to go there with you. Just let me know when! (she's referring to Garret's business trip to San Francisco this week where he had dinner with several Indian people and they ate with bread - no silverware)

Here is what President said about my question: (about whether a person's personal testimony or the Holy Ghost has more to do with conversion)

"I’ve wondered about that very thing myself. Indeed, I think there are a number of situations where people get converted by the Holy Ghost despite missionaries who may not be all that great. But I believe the general idea behind the statement is where we should focus. When we become truly converted ourselves and stand on higher ground, we are much better able to carry the Spirit with us and help lift others to higher ground".

Presidents word is law.:) So I'm accepting it.

Yesterday after church, cutest thing ever. We and a couple members of the ward gave like a 1/2 hour church service to a group of people in an alzheimer's living center. I was the chorister. We sang a bunch of songs and had a couple talks. The best part was when one member started his talk and said "I want to talk to you today about God". and one of the old guys yelled out "WHO'S GOD?"  It was just great considering where we were. 

Also a miracle happened this week. We received a referral for a girl named Aurora and have tried to contact her a couple times but have been yelled off the porch both times by people who we think are her parents. The third time we brought our ward mission leader just to be safe since there are some clear drug problems going on in that house. But Aurora answered the door this time! And we set up an appointment to teach her this week at the church! So excited!

Hope this week is even MORE quality than last week!

Love Ya!

Sister Orr

Good stuff :)

Hola Mamasita!

Sorry this is coming so late! My comp is MAKING me be in the mission choir. So we have to do that once a month for P-day. Its not too shabby, though. :)

Guess what happened this week? El companion got sick again. She had a tummy ache one night and checked her temperature in the morning and it was 101, and were not allowed to leave the house with a fever, and we were in for 2 days. So I cleaned the ENTIRE everything. Also a member brought us Mormon movies so we watched those and other people brought us lasagna. Twas a pretty sweet set up besides that I wanted to get out so bad! Then the 3rd day, her temp still said 101, so I made her take her temp with my thermometer because we had both been inside and feeling perfectly fine for 2 days, and with mine it said 98 degrees. So, then I took my temp with hers and it said 101. So I'm pretty sure hers is just broken and we stayed inside for 2 days for no reason. haha oops!

But its a miracle that we figured it out and went out that day because we had so many awesome lessons! Except for one, we invited a member lady to come with us and befriend the lady we were meeting with, but the lady we invited literally did not stop talking the entire time and she said like 80 times that she was worried she was talking too much. haha. Yes indeed she was. 

And the Rojas' I'm not sure if I have talked about them at all, they are awesome, but less active:) We went over Saturday night and had planned to teach a lesson but the house was insane! All the kids on the block and their parents were over, so Brother Rojas just taught us the alphabet in Spanish. We invited them to come to church which they have only done once in the past year, and they came and brought their kids friends too! So I would call that a win-win.

I am so jealous you get to go to the temple with our McKinney family! That will be so fun! Tell them I love them!

Also... HAppY BIRTHDAY! How old are you? 45? I'm so glad your only 45! Sister Frischknecht's parents are like 57 and that sounds like insanity to me!

Have a delightful week!

Love you quite a bit!

Sister Orr

Also be nice to the middle schoolers!


Hola Papasita!

I quite enjoy the phrases you are using in your letter this week "cool cat", "britches", "pals", its good stuff!

I'm excited for Addey and soccer! Stinks that the Morgan transition is tough. Tis to be expected though, McKinney is pretty rad.

Andrew, I dont even know what to think about Andrew. He says he needs time to process and pray before he meets with us again, and that was a while ago so we were kind of worried he was blowing us off. I texted him on Wednesday and asked him how praying was going. He said it was coming along, then I told him to watch the "patterns of light" Mormon Messages that Elder Bednar did and to tell me when he had watched them. He texted back just a little bit later that he had watched them all and that they were incredible and that they applied so much to him right now. Then I told him, like it said in one of the video's that as he takes small steps, more and more truth will be revealed. He said he still wasn't ready to meet with us though, so I told him until he is ready, to continue praying and look at mormon.org and other church websites for sources of truth. I cant even tell him to read the Book of Mormon though because he said taking it (when we offered it too him at the end of our restoration lesson) would be kind of overwhelming. Bummer! I think he is just a slow-processing kind of guy. I hope he comes around. 

David is at Disneyland and we don't get to see him again until the 22nd. Pray that he will read his scriptures while hes there! He's getting closer and closer to knowing our message is true. In fact, he told us he knew. So while we cant be meeting with him, I know satan will be working on him! So he needs lots of prayers!

Here's a thought that I am going to ask President Eaton about in my letter to him in a sec, but I want your thoughts. Preach My Gospel, on page 182 says "you cannot convert someone beyond your own conversion" which, to me sounds untrue. Even if I am completely not converted to the gospel, but am teaching truth, the Holy Ghost has that opportunity to testify, right? And to touch someones heart. Sure it would definitely be more powerful if you had a strong testimony of it, but the point is, I don't think one person converts another, we are converted by the spirit and ourselves. I don't know why, but that has just been on my mind.

Have a quality week!

Love you!

Sister Orr

PB&Js, Random Packages, Fasting...

Good MORNING:)

I have to say, Washington winter beats any winter I have lived through before. It has been so pretty and sunny! Still cold, but not anything too extreme. I love it! Jared was right! I get to stay in Lake Sawyer for another transfer with Sister Frischknect. Sister Halford (Erin's first companion) was training this past transfer again and is about to be a sister training leader! So that's cool, she's nervous but is also perfect and is great for the job.

We went on exchanges this week and I went to Federal Way for 24 hours with my Sister Training Leader named Sister Walker. I love her! And she had 2 ukuleles! So we jam seshed for a while (hymns of course) and that felt so good! I had been craving some uke time. While I was there we went to a ward that was having a service project where we made 500 pb and j's for homeless people. Which was really fun and it took like an hour. It was funny because a lot of kids came to help so we had a peanut butter side and a jelly side of the table and one kid to put them together. But both sides of the table were using different kinds of bread. So the sandwiches were miss-matched. I didn't care but there was an old lady helping me put them in sandwich bags who didn't stop complaining about it for the hour we were there. So that was delightful. Haha

Also I got your package:) twas a good one -- especially the turban. I look like the mom from The Help. Also I learned how to make a balloon dog. THANK YOU! (I have to explain this one -- I had a particularly fun time at a Dollar Store last week when I was getting a package ready for Erin.  They had some really random things there -- for a buck -- so I sent them to her as a joke.  It's kinda what we do.)

Oh also the music one (package)! Thanks for that, I love them all! I hope y'all got your own copy of the Lamb of God CD because that is my favorite thing ever. Also I love the health tips! I've been drinking smoothies and eating salads and such. I do need to get better at eating small portions at peoples houses. But mom, we had baked mac and cheese last night!! :)  Also one lady made us this vegan black bean/ tomato soup that is the actual bomb so I got the recipe and I'll send it to you!

I love Bob's sub rules. Especially number 8. Quality stuff. Did you obey them? 

I think Em would be a great teacher! It would be cool if she could do art and english! 

I loved Addey's basketball pic, but um, excuse me? Was she wearing make up? She's not twelve yet! She cannot be eleven and have an iphone 5 and also wear makeup. Not allowed.  (Again, gotta explain. Addey wasn't wearing make up - the picture just looked that way and the only reason she has a phone is because she inherited it when Erin left on her mission)

One thing I learned while on exchanges that I never considered before is that fasting is just a super charged prayer. A way that we can let heavenly father know that what we are praying about is more important to us than eating a few meals. And in Alma 45:1 (I think it was) they fasted out of gratitude. And I really like that. I have been feeling the gratitude, so I did that this past Sunday for my fast and it was awesome!

love, Ern


Dad,

I love that mountain/valley analogy. (This is an analogy that we learned this weekend in Stake Conference -- I'll put it at the bottom)  Super good! The whole reason we are on this earth is to grow. If ever someone seems like they have no trials, and you have a lot, just know God loves you enough to give you and opportunity to grow:) 

Miracle this week was with our investigator David Orange. He is awesome and sometimes annoys me because he's so open minded and yet so closed minded too. He wants to learn about all the churches but gets mad if anyone says theirs is the right church, because that puts all the other churches down, or something like that. So the elders that were in his ward before us just kind of had talks with him about different principles like prayer and scripture study and things like that, but didn't think he would like the actual missionary discussions. So we were kind of hesitant to teach him the restoration because of the Heavenly Father telling Joseph Smith that all the churches were wrong, thing. But we did this week and he took it really well and basically told us he knows its true! We don't get to see him for the next three weeks because he is going to Disneyland, so pray that Satan wont be too destructive while he's gone!

LOVE you:)

Ern

Mountain/Valley Analogy (from Garret):

Last night in the adult session of stake conference Elder Fisher from the Seventy, share a story about a woman who had experienced some difficult hardship in her life. When Elder Fisher went o her home to visit her she shared with him this great lesson, she said, "Everyone wants to be on top of the mountain, where the views are grand and beautiful, however, nothing grows on the tops of the mountains. In the valley is where everything grows, the trees, flowers, corn, grass and forests and meadows blossom and flourish. In other words, if your in a place where it's always "beautiful", where there is little or no stress, trial or challenge - there will be very little opportunity for personal growth. The valleys of our lives, although, filled with challenge and heart ache, is where we grow, draw closer to the Savior, and come to know ourselves and learn who we really are.